If It Takes the End of the World
by RaspBerryHats
Summary: A devastating plague hits Mystic falls and as the body counts rises and the corpses do too, the remaining supernatural beings race against personal grudges, new feelings for old enemies and the clock itself to find a cure for the ones they love.
1. Chapter 1

*Yes this was previously uploaded but something went wrong and nobody could access it, so I had to reupload. If you read this PLEASE PLEASE rewrite your reviews! I was dying to know what you all thought!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Time<strong>

"_Fine." He said, miffed. "But when this whole damn city burns to the ground because you two weren't done making googlie eyes at each other when I sounded the rallying cry, it goes on both of your heads."_

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><p>It's 6:15 AM and the town of Mystic Falls is waking up. Up the hill on Crescent Street, two blocks away from downtown, the mailman drives, his square truck rumbling like an angered, sleepy cat. The sprinklers on the Lockwood family estates shudder on at 6:16, and not a second later. Shopkeepers roll up the metal sheets that protected their wares at night and turn on the lights.<p>

But removed from the town, in an orchard untouched by the grub of suburban life, apples swing in the crisp morning breeze. Some are rotten, sick to the core. These have fallen from the tree, lying dark brown and shriveled in the shadows. Then on the top of the tree, light rewards these apples. They are rich and red and ripe. They are kissed by the sun and relish its warmth. Then there are those apples that are hooked between the light and the branches: one part in darkness and the other half in light. The farmer must watch these carefully, for while owning great potential to rise above the sun-kissed apples, their darkness can lead them astray. It is only under a good hand of a protector and nurturer do these apples have any chance of survival into something more than their rotten core.

But soon a man comes along. He moves fast, inhumanly fast and some would suggest she smells like a wet dog while others claim his skin is as cold as ice and there's no spell about him at all. This man moves through the apple trees and to the water supply, the well.

Soon, the heroic potential of some apples in opposition to others will not matter. Because, soon they will all be rotten and infected, sick with a disease that kills the host within five days of incubation. One might assume this is the work of a natural virus. But this virus and the man carrying it are both supernatural, and so once the virus is done setting your insides alight with a fever so hot, hell seems a better alternative, the virus opens your eyes again. Your killer has become your controller, your master. And you're too far-gone to realize, or understand that your body is now a puppet for destruction and carnal aggression. Once infected, you'd wish you'd die right there. But in the end, that wouldn't do any good.

The supernatural man with his supernatural virus cracks open the vial and a green muck falls from the class, past stone and moss and dissipates into the water below. The surface ripples, disgusted with what it has just ingested.

The supernatural man smirks and walks off.

At 7:20, the massive sprayers standing above the orchards in enormous V's turn on. Though no one can see it, the water is tinged slightly green and the air smells of acid rain.

It's 7:30 AM and Mystic Falls has become ground zero.

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><p>Caroline Forbes had suffered a lot of bad dreams, but last night's took the cake. In fact, it stole the damn cake, put the souls of a thousand gingers in it and send it directly to Beelzebub with a note that said "this cake called yo mama fat". It was that bad.<p>

_But thank God it was only a dream_, she thought as she rubbed a hand to her head. _Daddy would never hurt me like that, even if I am a . . . yeah, sure like Daddy even knows what a _vampire _is, much less that he hunts them, and me. I really gotta stop hitting the absinthe before bedtime. _

She sighed and looked out her bedroom window. Beautiful blue skies; what could possibly go wrong? Caroline tossed off the covers, sat up— and was yanked back to the bed by a cold, sharp pinch on her wrist. She whipped around and saw she was chained to the wall by a metal manacle clasp.

_No, no, no, no! It was a dream! A horrible, terrifying dream!_

She felt panic set in, a tight jaw that clamped around her chest. She reached out to grab the chain— to yank it from the wall— but it was like touching a burning skillet. She yelped, her hand stung red and steam rose from her burning flesh into the sunlight.

"Oh my God," Caroline muttered. "It's —,"

"Vervaine." A deep familiar voice muttered. "Yes, it is. Good to know you're not a freak vampire as well."

Bill Forbes entered his daughter's room and pulled up a seat from the vanity mirror. Caroline, suddenly realizing she was in a big T shirt and undies, quickly pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Good morning, Caroline."

"Good morning, Daddy."

They stared at each other for a weighted silence. His glasses were tinted dark in the sunlight so she could not see her father's eyes. He leaned back in the chair his entire face was masked by gleaming light. Caroline checked for her ring, remembering yesterday's torture session with her father and his use of sunlight against her. It was still there. In what she hoped to be a casual move, she hid the hand under a pillow. But he was always watching.

"I see you haven't forgotten the conditioning I practiced with you last night. You're already hiding your vampire nature from the outside world. This is good. This is progress. Soon we will have you vomiting at the smell of blood, much less at the taste of it."

Caroline stared.

"What happened last night?" Caroline finally asked. "How did I get home?"

"I drive you home, of course. Your mother has agreed to this arrangement if I bring you home at a reasonable hour and if your school work is not affected by the pressure of the process."

Caroline stared. _Are you crazy? Pressure of the process? Dad, you're killing me, literally killing me!_

"You're going to need your strength today. Your mother has some oatmeal and OJ waiting for you on the breakfast table. Come and get some when you're ready."

"But Dad, I need blood."

"No you, don't." Bill Forbes shook his head. "This is a mental connection you've made into believing you need something. This is nothing more than an addiction and I'm here to help you through it."

He stood up and walked over to her. Caroline resisted the urge to flinch away. His hand rested on her knee in a protective gesture.

"I'm doing this because I care Caroline." His grey eyes watched her sadly. "The old Caroline would have wanted this but the monster that controls you now is only interested in self-preservation and feeding it's own sickness. I'm doing this for my baby girl."

"But I am your baby girl." She said softly.

"No, you're not." Bill said. "You're the thing that murdered her for a spot to in habit."

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Then he reached over and unlocked the manacle. He stood, gave her an expression-less glance and left the room.

* * *

><p>"Stefan, that tickles."<p>

"I know. That's why I'm doing it."

"Well, you're teasing me."

"Again, I know." He tickled her nose again with the cherry stem. "You're always so much fun to tease."

She grabbed at the stem, but he was too quick. She grinned playfully from his lap. "And you're just a big meanie."

Stefan grabbed a handful of grass from the lakeside lawn and sprinkled it on Elena's face. "But you're still fun to tease!" Then he leaned down and kissed her nose.

"Oh, I like that."

Stefan smirked. "What about this?" He kissed her forehead.

"Yep."

"Here?" He kissed her left cheek.

"Uh-huh." He kissed her right cheek.

"That works too." He kissed her lips.

"Ah, that's the stuff." He pulled her head up and her body rested comfortably in his arms. "Now this I could get used to."

They leaned heads together, watching the afternoon sun sparkle off the lake. It was moments like these that Elena could nearly believe that she had a normal boyfriend. That she had normal friends. That her brother was an excellent student and someone hadn't tried to kill her for the past two years. It was moments like these that really nothing could ruin.

"You know, when most couples stop talking, it usually means their mouths are busy doing something else." A branch crunch behind them and it was no surprise when Damon, Stefan's older yet perhaps less mature brother, strode out onto the picnic blanket, cutting off the lake from view. "And as far as sexual active teenagers go, you guys are pretty boring."

The looks of disgust and frustration were identical.

"What do you want, Damon?" Stefan sighed. Elena moved uncomfortably from his lap.

"What do I want?" Damon asked as if offended. "It's not what I want, dear brother, it's what you want. You and your chipper girlfriend. Don't we have big bad evil to fight?"

"Klaus is on the lamb, you know that." Stefan said.

"And all his goonish hybrids have kept quiet for a while now." Elena added.

"Ah, and see, herein lies the problem!" Damon said triumphantly. "When I was—eviler than of late— I always chose the moment when my enemy's defenses were down to strike!"

"And that was when?" Stefan asked, his jaw set. "When the little girl stopped crying long enough to beg for mercy? Is that when you 'attacked'?"

Elena gave an uncomfortable glance to Damon before slipping her hand into Stefan's. Damon's nostril's twitched.

"If you don't have anything to do, go home, Damon." Stefan continued. "Elena and I want to spend sometime together and you're not invited."

Elena would not meet their eyes. Damon, staring intently at Elena's temple, ground his teeth. "Fine." He said, miffed. "But when this whole damn city burns to the ground because you two weren't done making googlie eyes at each other when I sounded the rallying cry, it goes on _both_ of your heads."

With that, Damon gave a tight smirk and left.

Elena was silent while Stefan listened. Finally he nodded, signaling his brother was out of earshot.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"He's bored." Stefan said simply. He reached down and took a sip of champagne. Elena watched him carefully. "He gets like this when he's bored. He's an outdoors cat that's been put inside for a while and now he's getting restless. I tell him to leave and stretch his legs over in Zimbabwe but he just doesn't listen."

"Why doesn't he go?" Elena asked.

Stefan sighed. "When he gets like this, he lets his mind wander. And Damon with an imagination is never a good thing. He starts to think about things . . . and _people_ . . ."

Elena rolled her eyes. "I don't get it. Blood is blood. Why is it coming from a vein so much better than—,"

"Elena," Stefan said sharply. "That's not what I meant."

She felt her cheeks go warm. "Oh, right. That thing. About Damon and his feelings for me." The butterflies in her stomach suddenly turned to hot coals. "But when is he going to get it through his head? I am not Katherine! I will never be Katherine! I don't play mind games like she does! I'm not evil—,"

Stefan kissed her, cutting her off mid-rage. He chuckled. "Did anyone ever tell you, you're cute when you're mad."

She was here with Stefan and that's all that mattered.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god, Bonnie, are you okay?" Caroline gasped and grabbed her friend's arm. She led the witch to a booth at the Mystic Grill.<p>

"I don't know." Bonnie replied. Her skin was cold and clammy and she was tinged green. "I woke up this morning feeling super icky."

"Well what hurts?" Caroline asked. "That's what my mom always asks first. And why the hell are you here at Mystic Grill if you're feeling so nasty?"

"I came here looking for Elena." She put her head on the table. "I found some stuff on Klaus and I figured some spells would perk me up. But every time I try anything, I feel like I'm getting sicker. It's like the earth itself is sick, you know?"

Caroline frowned. "Um, actually I don't know. You're the one with the witchy connection to Mother Nature and all that jazz. I just came here for a drink."

"So you don't know where Elena is?" Bonnie groaned from the table.

"Nope." Caroline shrugged. "Want me to give you a lift back home?"

"You're not going to make me walk or get a cab?" Bonnie asked, lifting her head up in genuine surprise.

"Of course not!" Caroline said. "Friends take care of friends, even when mucus is pouring out of their noses like a broken faucet."

"Oh my god, is it really?" Bonnie grabbed for a napkin, but Caroline laughed.

"No, silly, it's not. Learn to take a joke." She touched her friend's hand. "But, ew , you're all slimy."

"And there's the real Caroline . . ."

"Hey, this new Caroline has been around for a while, now so don't be acting all surprised when I'm nice!" She took Bonnie by the shoulders and carefully led her towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah and you're being nice has nothing to do with the fact that Tyler Lockwood didn't show up for his shift here." Bonnie grinned.

"Oh shut up, Truth-Seer."

"Either way, it won't matter because they'll all be dead soon." Said Bonnie astutely.

Caroline froze. "What did you say?" But Bonnie was staring off into space, eyes glazed, her mind receiving a premonition. Caroline shook her. "Bonnie! Hello! Snap out of it!"

Caroline gave her one more good shake. "BONNIE!"

Her soft brown eyes fluttered awake. "What?"

"What did you see? Is there something bad coming?" Caroline asked.

"What?" Bonnie asked, laughing. "What are you talking about, Caroline? Why do you think I would know?"

"Because you had your Premonition face on." Caroline frowned. Bonnie stared in disbelief. "Oh just forget it."

At that moment, a man burst into the Grill. He strode onward, shoving Caroline by the shoulder.

"Hey, watch it, jerk!" Caroline snapped.

The man looked apologetic but sneezed into his hand. He looked worse than Bonnie did.

"Okay, ew. Let's just get you home before the rest of the world forgets their manners!"

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><p><em>Mass text: Stefan and I are throwing a nice little dinner to enjoy this peace while it lasts. We'd love if you all could join. Salvatore manor at 7. xo Elena <em>

Caroline looked at her phone, biting her lip. Should she go? Why wouldn't she? I mean it's not like home was exactly a safe place to be right now— especially since she hadn't replied to any of her mother's texts since this morning when she ditched. And it wasn't like she disliked hanging with Elena and Stefan. She loved those two a lot and especially after her Transformation, she owed Stefan more than she could possibly repay. It was just all of these cutsie things that they did around each other, now that Mystic Falls had lulled into peace. It used to bug her a lot that Elena's world was so perfect while hers literally crumbled around her. But with becoming a vampire, being second-rate to a good guy didn't sound so bad. And then that whole thing with Matt started up again, and then there was Tyler Lockwood, who could melt her bones with a single glance. But neither of those boys ran in supernatural fanclub, really. So why didn't she want to go? _Because the lovie-dovie gushy-wushy garbage is just way too much to handle right now. _

Besides, it was a lot more fun to sit in Matt's tree and watch him work on his homework, lift some weights, oh now it's shower time—

The phone buzzed again and Caroline nearly dropped it. Well, the old Caroline certainly would have.

_Care— this one is just to you. Please come tonight : - ) Damon's having Alaric over and Jeremy wants to show them this new videogame he got. Please. It's a sausage fest over here! Save me!_

Caroline rolled her eyes. _Like for you that's a bad thing . . ._

But this is what the new Caroline does. She helps friends and ignores the fact that this might be her one and only chance to see Matt Donovan naked. Grumpy, she swung down from the tree and landed surprisingly light on her feet. Maybe she was getting a hang of this vampire thing after all.

"It sounded like an elephant dismounting onto a drum set."

Caroline's head snapped up and saw Tyler Lockwood smirking in the shadows.

"Tyler, what are you doing here?"

"I have an excuse to be here. Matt and I were going to play the new Madden game. What about you?"

"I was— uh, looking for my— uh . . ."

"In a tree? Yeah, whatever you were looking for was definitely at the top of the tree that looks into Matt's bedroom."

Caroline scowled, then stormed off passed him. But then a hand grabbed her elbow.

"Caroline, wait." His eyes were suddenly soft and sympathetic. "Please, don't go. I'm sorry. It's nearing the full moon and I can't help myself sometimes."

Caroline forcefully yanked her arm back. "Well, you should learn to control it or you won't have anyone to listen to your sob-stories."

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><p>As well as a dinner can go with three vampires, one vampire hunter, one human and a Petrova doppelganger, this one went quite. Nobody guessed that about an hour before everyone arrived the stove caught flame and burned down the entire meal, forcing Elena to get on the phone and order in from Macaroni Grill. That is, no one knew until Damon blurted out that something smelled burned. That earned him a lot of glares. But soon, everyone went back to eating and talking and discussing the game that Jeremy brought.<p>

"It's called Skyrim. It's totally cool with everyone these days." Jeremy said happily. "You can customize your own player and pick his race and everything! Then you can do quests or tame dragons or do spells. I heard that you can even turn into a vampire!"

This was met with a silence. Damon grinned into his wine glass.

"Oh, well I guess it's not as cool in present company." Jeremy said.

"It certainly sounds like the entertainment world has gotten a lot bigger since I played." Ric said, smiling to Jeremy. "Let's clean up and see if my talent in Pong will serve an even greater purpose."

"You boys go. Caroline and I will clean up." Elena offered. "I know Jeremy's been dying to get his hands on a bigger staff."

"Shut up, Elena." Jeremy's ears went red.

"Are you sure?" Ric asked. "Because we really don't mind—,"

"Alaric, my friend," Damon sighed, clapping him on the back. "Cleaning the kitchen is actually code for 'lets go whisper about hot boys because we think they're out of earshot'."

Caroline resisted the urge to giggle. For a pompous bastard, he really had some wit about him.

Elena was not so inclined. "Yes, Ric, we're fine. You guys go on ahead."

"Okay, babe." Stefan came around and kissed her forehead. "But we'll be in the other room if you need us."

"Thanks," Elena smiled and kissed him back, more heated on the lips.

_Is this desert? _Damon thought bitterly. _'Cuz the "sweetness" makes me want to heave._

He forced himself to look away from the lip-sucking couple and his eyes fell upon Blondie. Her facial expression of disgust and anger surprised him, which didn't happen very often. _Is that jealous the littlest vampire is feeling? Oh, this will be fun. _

"I'm going to start the dishes. Please bring your plate to the kitchen when you're done." Caroline briskly turned and walked off.

Her golden hair bounced as she walked and Damon's treacherous eyes slipped down her back, as his eyes do when confronted with a beautiful girl. She was wearing white pants and he could just barely make out the lime green pokadot thong. Ooh, what color bra—

"Hey, Damon!" Elena snapped her fingers in front of his line of vision. She seemed to have managed to pull herself away from Stefan's fat lips. "Don't think you think for a second you have the right to look at my friend like that."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Keep your sweater vest on, Soccer Mom. I was just having some fun. Now take my plate, woman."

She snatched it out of his hand as Stefan walked off into the living room after Alaric and Jeremy, glaring. "Don't think this is any sort of habit you can fall into. This is a one-time deal. I am not your maid or your housekeeper."

"Because if you were, I'd make you wear the outfit." Damon's eyes glittered. "Besides, I can Compel myself a maid and just have sex with her instead."

With that, he spun on his heel and went to follow his brother.

_So there, bitch!_

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><p>"So it's not weird that I still like Matt a little?"<p>

"From what I'm hearing Caroline, a little sounds like a lot." Elena smiled as she put the ranch dressing away. Caroline sighed and slumped her head onto the marble counter top.

"What am I going to do? And then there's Tyler who, one minute is looking at me like a lovesick puppy, and then the next, like he wants to wolf-out and tear my clothes off."

"Well, don't tell Stefan this, but I'd go for the second one!"

"Elena!" Caroline gasped. "Who knew you were so much fun!"

The two laughed and hugged. _Maybe this Stefan thing is for the better._

"Have you heard from Bonnie lately?" Elena asked. "She didn't answer me back."

"I saw her today at the Grill. Said she was looking for you and that she had new info on Klaus or something."

Elena's heartbeat quickened. Caroline heard it. "What? What did she find?"

"She didn't say, because she was looking super sicky. I drove her home and put her straight to bed. She was babbling on about the earth being sick and the world decaying, so I figured it was time for beddy-bye."

"Yeah," Elena nodded, her heartbeat returning to normal. "It was probably for the best."

"But oh my God!" Caroline spun around. "I totally didn't tell you the story of the insanely gross homeless guy that totally coughed on me today! I mean, really, the nerve of some people!"

CRASH. The lights flickered then dimmed. Elena let out a quick scream before Caroline put a hand over her mouth.

"Shh, shh. I hear something." Caroline listened with all her vampire prowess, searching for the scuttling sound she'd heard moments before. But she heard nothing.

CRASH. More breaking glass. If she had a heartbeat, it would have skipped a beat. Caroline grabbed Elena's hand.

"Come on, let's meet up with the guys in the living room."

"Good idea," Elena squeaked.

Upon arriving, it was apparently neither Damon or Stefan had heard anything. They were casually lighting candles as Alaric comforted Jeremy.

"Maybe it auto-saved." He suggested.

"Not likely. Freakin black outs." Jeremy scowled.

"So you guys didn't hear anything?" Caroline asked. Stefan turned and looked up at her. Damon's eyes darted to her face. It was remarkable how blue they were.

"No," Stefan shook his head. "We didn't hear anything."

"But we smell it!" Damon lifted a hand to his nose. "Oh my God, what's that smell?"

"Rotten." Stefan was suddenly tense. He reached out his hand for Elena. She took it gratefully. "Rotten flesh."

Jeremy scrambled to his feet. "Are you serious?"

Stefan nodded. "Stay near me." Alaric reached for a weapon under the coffee table.

Damon rolled his eyes. "It's probably just the chicken that Elena hatefully set on fire. Its come to exact its revenge on all of us! Oooh! Oooh! Oooh— oof!"

Something tackled him to the ground. It was moaning and roaring, smacking and snapping at his face. Damon chucked it to the side. It rolled and stood up again.

"Oh big bad got the surprise attack. I'm so scared." Damon snickered. "Well, here's my surprise."

As the thing lumbered forward, Damon shot out a hand and grabbed its heart. He yanked it through its chest cavity and it stumbled to the ground.

"Now see what happens when we don't all get along." Damon said smiling. "I get very angry, you loose your heart— and there are worms in it!"

Damon dropped the heart to the ground where it turned into a red moosh. The thing on the floor leaped up again, roaring and charging. Damon mouthed an explicative as he dodged it and Stefan leaped forward and hurled the thing into the wall. There were multiple bones crunched but as soon as it hit the floor, it stood up again.

"What in the—,"

"Caroline! Your arm!"

Caroline looked down at her arm in time to see another creature grabbed it from behind. Using a sudden rush of fear-fueled adrenaline, she yanked her arm free and ripped the creature's jaw off with the other hand.

More suddenly appeared from the darkness, gurgling and growing, hissing and snarling.

"Oh Hell." Damon ran, and yanked the arms off one. Stefan removed the head of another but the mouth kept snapping.

Elena handed Jeremy a hot poker, and herself armed with one, they backed into a corner, hitting anything that came near. Alaric was firing well-shot bullets into their hearts, lungs and stomachs. And then Jeremy got a good shot: he pierced one through the head starting at the left eye.

"Guys, destroy the brain and they'll stay dead," he said as his kill slumped to the floor.

And from dark shadows, they came, moaning and growling, arms outstretched and loose clothes hanging from the yellowing skin.

"Alaric, protect Elena and Jeremy. Do not hesitate." Stefan ordered, his eyes on the approaching mob. "Caroline, Damon, take them out."

"Uh, Stefan, there's three of us and like thirty of them!" Caroline exclaimed, taking a small step backward.

"Come on, Blondie. Afraid to get your hands dirty?" Damon smirked. One lunged at him. He step sided it, flipped it to the ground and smashed its head with his heel. "Come on, don't you just love a little tussle?"

The creatures were tired of waiting. They charged the three vampires.

"I might have spoken too soon."

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><p><em>AN* _

_Hey guys, this is my first hand at TVD fic. Hope you all like it! I'm really trying to focus on character development, so if the characters say or do anything that seem un-character-like, then let me know! I really want to focus on Caroline and her father's relationship, and Damon's infatuation with Elena. If it seems like it's a Delena/Stelena triangle right now, then it should. Like I said CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS, which means through out this fic I will hopefully show a successful transformation into a happy and nurture Daroline relationship. Which I personally believe should happen in the show, but that's beyond the point._

_Reviews are appreciated and word through your friends (that means you, Tumblr) is even greater appreciated! Thanks guys and please enjoy the ride!_


	2. Chapter 2: Spitfire

**Chapter 2: Spitfire**

"_I'm sick of being pushed around. My town, my rules."_

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><p>From behind her, Caroline heard their faces change, an animalistic roar coming from the older brother.<p>

Three creatures on her left were closest so she started there. She leapt forward and grabbed one and threw it into the other attackers. They fell like bowling pins, but more swarmed over them. Caroline grabbed a lamp and crushed one skull— two skulls— three skulls as they dove at her. She swung recklessly, hitting anything that moved, and not particularly making sure they were dead. Suddenly she felt grubby fingers yank at her hair. She yelped.

"Caroline!" She heard Elena scream.

"Oh, this is so NOT how I'm gonna die . . . again!" Caroline whipped passed the creature behind her, grabbed its neck and threw it into her knee. The head shattered like an eggshell. But with an eggshell comes the yoke.

"Oh my God, ew!" Caroline groaned. Her lovely pants and favorite top were covered in a thick muck, like putrid milk in a week old chili verde sauce. "You son of a bitch!"

Caroline's fangs were out. She punched right and left, speeding from creature to creature. She clasped her hands together and used them like a baseball back to decapitate one. She spun, yanked the arm off another creature and clubbed in another skull. "You guys are so totally dead!"

Caroline swung the arm, knocking over and knocking off heads. She came to the last one in her sight. "This!" She smacked it to the ground. "Was!" She hit it again. "My!" Again. "Favorite!" Again. "Shirt! And you nasty punks ruined it!"

"Caroline!" Damon grabbed her shoulder. She froze in mid-swing. "It's dead, killer."

In fact it was a bloody, green, swishy pulp. "I'd offer you a hand but clearly you've already got one." Damon grinned.

Caroline looked at the dismembered arm. "Oh, gross." She dropped it. Damon chuckled under his breath as he stalked off.

Around her feet lay the bodies of thirty rotting corpses. Caroline turned and saw Elena and Jeremy pressed up against the wall, clutching each other in fear and Alaric was cleaning off another one of his metal arrows.

Stefan was walking through the carnage, making sure each was dead. Damon was cleaning his hands off on the tatter of one of the creature's shirts. He surveyed his kill account as well.

"Ah, ha. My pile of undead thingies is bigger than yours." He said, grinning at his brother.

"My thoughts exactly, Damon." Stefan gave a pointed look to Damon. "_Where_ did these things come from and _why_ were they trying to kill us?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Well sure, if you want to get right to the business side of this."

"I don't see us getting too far while prodding around in the dark." Alaric said. "You think you boys could do something about it?"

" I forgot, you guys are blind in dim lights." Damon rolled his eyes. "Wah, wah, humans and their needs."

"Damon, go down to the breaker and see what can be done." Stefan ordered. "We need someone intelligent and with enough historical know-how to help us figure out what these things are."

Damon scowled. "Fine, I'll go, but only because you insulted yourself in that same sentence and you didn't even realize it."

He vamp-sped off into the dark.

Immediately, Stefan was at Elena's side. "Are you okay?" His thumbs were gently stroking her face.

"Yeah, Stefan, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up. You okay, Jer?"

"I'm way better, actually." Jeremy shook his fire poker free of sludge. "This was way, _way _better than a night of virtual dragons."

"Yep, he's fine." Elena muttered and Stefan kissed her nose.

A voice yelled from downstairs: "And Damon said, let there be light!" A second later, the manor sparkled with light as the lamps twinkled into life.

"Oh my God."

What Caroline had previously assumed to be loose clothes was, in fact, hanging flesh. Some were missing eyes and others had searing, open slices on their faces but they did not bleed. They looked almost human, but of a perversion unlike they had ever witnessed. Thin and disjointed, the load of dead corpses was nearly Holocaustic in nature.

Elena heaved. "Oh God, I'm gonna be sick," she moaned.

"Don't look." Stefan shielded her from the scene.

Caroline's stomach knotted. She wished she had a hand to hold. She bit her lip and stuck out her chin. No, she could deal with this on her own.

"Lookie, lookie what I found scuttling around the basement." Damon strode up from the basement stairs, dragging along what looked to be another body. But when he threw it at their feet, Caroline realized it was a human and very much alive. He was pale and pasty. His cheeks were hollow and tinted yellow. "I'm guessing he's the source of the power out-age."

"Oh God, Damon, he's sick. Leave him alone." Elena swept forward, reaching out a hand. But the man pulled away, hissing like a cat.

"Don't touch me, bitch."

Stefan swarmed him, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him to the floor with a tremendous thud. He held him there.

"Do you know what we are? Do you realize you're in a house of two very powerful creatures that could rip you limb from limb?"

"Aww, Stefan, you're so sweet." Damon said sardonically.

The man turned and spat something yellow onto the floor next to him. "Yeah, I do. But I don't care. I'm the messenger and you don't shoot the messenger until you hear what he has to say."

"Generally, we don't take advice from creepy, sickly old guys who skulk around in the basement." Caroline said, pointedly. "So what you have to say better be pretty damn important."

"Well, Ms. Spitfire," the old man growled, "I was sent here by Klaus."

All eyes turned to Elena. "What does he want?"

"Many things. None of which you lot make any easier in taking."

"And?"

The old man turned his yellow eyes to Elena once again. "He wants you to remember that life without him holds a certain fragility to it. Something big and bad is coming and it's gonna make you lot look like itty bitty puzzle pieces. He wants to remind the doppelganger that unless she accepts her destiny to create an army of hybrids, life has a very short expiration date."

Caroline heard Elena swallow.

"What is Klaus sending to Mystic Falls?" Stefan shook him. "Where is he? What's coming?"

Suddenly, the man was overtaken by a fit of hacks and coughs. He coughed into his hand and blood splattered the pale skin.

"Stefan, stop. He's probably been Compelled not to say anything. We're not going to get anything out of him tonight." Elena said. "Put him in the servant's room and we'll question him tomorrow."

Stefan nodded, still scowling at the old man. "Fine. Come on, buddy. From the smell of you, I'm guessing this'll be the nicest bed you've ever slept in."

He grabbed the old man by his shoulders and whisked off.

There was a pause.

"Elena," Jeremy began. "Are you okay?"

She swallowed and glanced at Alaric. "Yeah, just fine."

"Ok," Caroline said. "Brief pause. Before we go leaping off into battle, could we totally hop in the shower for like two seconds? Because I am not spending another minute with dead guy goo in my hair!"

* * *

><p><em>Oh man, no one should ever be without a shower, ever.<em>

Caroline smiled as she rubbed her skin with a foamy loofa and warm rain scaled down her back. It has taken about an hour to get all the corpses out of the living room, even with everyone helping. Damon had taken it upon himself to personally set fire to the bodies. He called it retribution for the all of the bloodstains on the Persian rugs. Caroline hadn't waited a second longer to rush back inside to shower.

_Now this is how it should be. No blood bags. No scary undead attacky thingies. Just a warm bath._

She turned off the guest room shower and stepped out. A note on top of a pile of clothes waited for her on the counter.

_Care—_

_Stefan said these were some old clothes from when sweatpants were cool and everybody had a band t-shirt. So I'm guessing around the nineties :P See you when you get out. They have the guest room made up and everything! _

_xo, Elena_

She lifted the note to look at the clothes . . . and sighed.

Five minutes later, she was dressed and hair in a bun. She closed the door and began padding down towards the living room, to thank Stefan for the room and clothes. Her pocket buzzed. She grimaced: it was her mother, asking where the hell she was. _I can't go back to that. Not right now._

"Hey, you hungry?" Damon came, swaggering around the corner. Caroline put her phone into her pocket, swallowing the hot knot in her throat.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. "We just ate."

"Ah, no," Damon said with a sinister finger raised. "The humans ate. We have other needs. Drink up."

Caroline barely saw his hand move before a blood bag came hurling at her. She nearly dropped it.

"Apparently, you need it more than I thought. Sloppy reflexes, girl." Damon said, leaning against the wall. "And come on, what was that during the fight? You might have as well beat them back with your lacy handbag."

"Hey, I thought I did good!"

"You diverged them into Stefan and I. You didn't so much as stem the flow as provide alternate direction."

Caroline scowled. "I don't have one hundred plus years of bar fighting and boxing like you guys do. The only fight I ever got into was when Kevin Hatch took my Barbie in kindergarten."

"And I'm sure you did smashingly against a five year old." Damon said and took a step toward her. "But this is the real world, babe. Don't you just have that natural inclination to attack? It's vampire instinct to want to bite and destroy."

Caroline diverted her eyes and moved backward. _You're the monster that killed her . . ._

"No." She said. She looked back Damon, her jaw set. "I don't have that in me. I'm not a killer."

He cocked his head, his eyes traveling. "No, I guess you're not."

"So, if you see Stefan, would you tell him I said thanks for the room and clothes?" She asked, taking a step backward into the living room. He stayed firmly in the shadows, casually leaning on the wall. "And thanks for the blood."

Suddenly, Caroline was very glad for the candle-lit house that allowed her to hide in the shadows. Her makeup had been washed off in the shower and sweatpants hadn't been sexy since . . . forever. But it was just Damon.

But she wasn't sure if she liked the sudden tension in the air.

"Any time, Blondie." He muttered.

* * *

><p>Caroline found Alaric rummaging in the kitchen.<p>

"Ok, dinner definitely wasn't that bad." Caroline began, but Alaric jumped, which made her jump and scream. Which made him yelp . . . in a manly sort way.

Alaric cleared his throat.

"What do you want, Caroline?" He took a deep breath and clutched his heart.

Caroline relaxed too. "First of all, I want my history teacher to not be such a pansy—,"

"Hey! You snuck up on me!"

"Yeah but you scared me!"

"You were sneaking!"

"But you screamed like a girl!"

"I did not!"

"Did so!"

They stopped and just stared. "This is why we didn't get along in school." Alaric said finally.

"Yeah, think so."

Alaric chuckled and Caroline smiled.

"So let's start over," she began. "Hello, Ric. This is me, not sneaking, welcoming and announcing my presence."

"Better." Alaric grinned. "Continue."

"What are you doing in here?"

"The life of a vampire hunter kept me on my toes for years. My body needs a healthy dose of caffeine at around midnight. I was in the refrigerator for milk."

"Huh. Interesting."

"My turn, what are you doing here?"

"I came looking for Stefan and Elena, to say thanks for letting me spend the night, for letting all of us spend the night. I know Elena is going to sleep much better, knowing that her baby brother is under the protection of two able-bodied vampires."

"You're a vampire too, Caroline." Ric said.

The blood bag was cold in her hands. She put them behind her back.

"Yeah, I know." She said sharply. Alaric frowned slightly. "That's actually what I wanted to talk about. I know you've been training Elena to take down a vampire. I need to you to train me, to take down more than just a vampire. I can't be a liability any more."

"But, you aren't." Alaric said, still frowning. "Tonight—,"

"Exactly, tonight." The older Salvatore's words were still fresh in her mind. "I've been thinking about this for a while. I could hold my own against Damon but that was only because I caught him off guard. But what if I was attacked out of the blue? What if I was captured? I need to know how to fight back."

Alaric continued to stare then his face broke into a smile. "A house full of Amazonian warriors. I fear the day when PMS comes to town."

Caroline gave a small smile.

"I'm impressed by this change in character," Alaric continued. "I only knew the old Caroline for a little bit, but from what I'm hearing, you sound like you're on the offense now."

"I'm sick of being pushed around." Caroline said sternly. "My town, my rules."

Alaric chuckled. "Well, Elena and I were planning for another session tomorrow but in light of the chaos of tonight, I guess we'll just have to talk tomorrow."

Caroline nodded, feeling a bit better. "Thanks, Ric, see you tomorrow."

He nodded and she headed back to her room. As she passed by a waste bin, she casually slipped the blood bag into it without another thought.

* * *

><p><em>*AN I'll be posting every Thursday around the time TVD usually comes on. Maybe this will help ease the hiatus-pain._


	3. Chapter 3: Progress

**Chapter 3: Progress**

_So stay there and don't get goo on the sheets. They're high thread-count linen_.

* * *

><p>Damon heard the shower running from the opposite room so he took no precedent in bursting through his brother's door. As much as he would have loved to see Elena in the shower, it was his brother he needed to talk to.<p>

"Last chance, Stefan." Damon said. "This is my final call to arms. If we don't rally the troops and start looking for a necromancer, then we will all be dead soon. Some, more than others." He added.

"We'll start the search tomorrow." Stefan said. He removed his shirt and pulled on a fleece zipper jacket that he didn't zip up. _Prick_, Damon thought.

"Isn't that what you said earlier today, just before we were attacked by the hordes of the undead?"

"We're not going to find anything this late at night." Stefan pulled back the covers to his bed.

"What about the messenger from Klaus? I.E, the _only_ link we have to him and his whereabouts?"

"He's not going anywhere. Like Elena said, we'll get more out of him tomorrow."

"So, your plan is to wait here, in the same house as the attack, and just hopefully, _maybe_, something will turn up _tomorrow _to prevent another attack that could happen, oh, I don't know, any freakin' second!" Damon said, gritting his teeth. "What the hell is wrong with you? I'm pretty sure Elena would like you more if she was alive, not dead on the ground, like one of those things!"

Stefan bolted from the bed and shoved a hand under his brother's throat, pinning him to the wall.

"Eating something stronger than bunnies, have we, Stefan?" Damon muttered.

"Not that you deserve to know, but Elena is completely freaked out right now. Jeremy was right in the middle of that and she couldn't do anything to protect him. She's barely holding it together." Damon's heart twinged. "You must remember what that feels like, the helplessness of leaving a sibling to fend on their own."

Damon set his jaw and knocked Stefan's hand out from under his throat. "No, I don't. I only remember what it feels like to be betrayed by a brother."

"Are you still on about Katherine?" Stefan shook his head. "When are you going to get over that crap?"

"I am over her, you dick!" Damon said, his voice elevated. "This is about brothers and family and loyalty! You never showed me that, so why shouldn't I return the favor?"

Stefan crossed his arms. His eyes glittered. "Since you're over her, is that why you keep dreaming about Caroline Forbes?"

Damon wrinkled his nose. _How the hell did that son of a bitch know about that?_

"You're not as tough as you think, Damon." Stefan continued. "I see the way you look at her."

"She was a plaything, a blood bag, that annoyingly became immortal. I care about her because Elena cares about her." Damon scoffed.

"Okay, brother," Stefan said, putting his hands up in mock-surrender. "Whatever you say."

Damon scowled and the water in the other room turned off. Both brothers looked at the door. "I guess that's my cue to leave."

"Yeah, it is."

Damon walked past Stefan, his clenched fists hidden in his pocket. Then he stopped at the doorway. "So you gave her my sweatpants on purpose, right?"

"Like you're bothered by the scent of her in your pants."

Damon turned, leaning backward slightly. "Either way, _brother_, dick move."

* * *

><p>"Wake-y wakey eggs and bac-y," Damon sang the next morning as he swaggered down the steps to the old servant's quarters. He rattled the door handle, then burst into the room. The old man was huddled in a corner. The bed looked untouched.<p>

"Huh, my bed's never been rejected like that before." Damon shrugged. "Well, nevertheless, secret time. Spill. What is Klaus planning?"

He pulled up a chair to stare the man down. The old man shivered.

"He said you would do this," the man muttered.

"Do what?"

"Be nice. Take me in, because I'm human. He said you'd pity me."

"Oh, no, we've had our run-ins with multiple evil humans, so don't think for one second that's the reason you're still alive." Damon said. "You're alive because you have something we want. Besides, if it were up to me, you would have been blood in my teeth a long time ago."

The old man shifted uncomfortably.

"So spill."

"Like I said, I was sent here by Klaus."

"To do what?"

"Deliver a message and wait until it comes. He would come to get me."

"So when it all goes down, whatever it is, Klaus is coming here?" Damon asked.

The old man looked confused. "I . . . don't know."

"Being Compelled, check." Damon muttered. "So what is this thing coming? What is it? When is it?"

"I . . . don't know."

"Hey." Damon reached down and slapped the back of his head. "Think! what else did he say?"

"I don't remember."

"You just want me to bite, you don't?"

"I—,"

The man collapsed to the floor, eyes rolling back in his head. Breath rattled in and out of his chest. Damon leapt out of his chair, putting as much space between him and the convulsing old man.

And then the old man froze. His eyes were completely white. When he spoke, it was with a completely different voice, and with a slight accent.

"Do not press this victim any more. He is Compelled to end his life to prevent my whereabouts from being known. You will not find me. Do not try. Prepare for the coming apocalypse. Tell the ones you love good-bye. That's all you time have left . . . Do not press this victim any more. He is Compelled to—"

"Oh, give it a break." Damon sighed. He stood up and broke the man's arm. The old man yelped and his eyes rolled down to their pupils.

"Agh! What the hell? Where am I? Why does my arm hurt?" His yellow eyes darted around the room.

"Jeez, all you do is whine!" Damon grabbed his arm, the old man still howling, and reset the bone. He whipped back his sleeve and bit his wrist. Blood began to trickle out from Damon's wrist and he shoved it into the old man's mouth. His whimpering slowed and finally, he slumped back.

"What . . . what happened?"

"You're being mind-controlled by a thousand year old vampire, Compelled to die if you actually do reveal anything." Damon sighed. He grabbed the old man's shoulder and yanked him onto the bed. "So basically you're useless. I should probably kill you."

"No," the man wheezed. "I might know something."

"You probably don't. But my brother's girlfriend would be in a tizzy if I off-ed an old guy." Damon scowled. "So you'll live. Another guy will be down here soon with something to eat. Don't kill him. She'd be in more of a tizzy if her little brother was off-ed by the old guy. So stay there and don't get goo on the sheets. They're high thread-count linen."

* * *

><p>Caroline stretched, lacing up her running shoes. She didn't really know what to expect from this "training" but she imagined it would be something like a kick boxing class. She had only taken a few in freshmen year when a rash of break-ins had the whole town on patrol and her mother, the cop, thought it would be good if she knew how to use pepper spray and have a successful knee kick to the groin. High heels didn't work there, so she assumed they wouldn't work here.<p>

"You guys ready?" Alaric asked. He kicked a rock out from their circle of trees in the forest. Elena had agreed to another training session the following day and had been ecstatic that Caroline wanted to join her. The only condition was that Jeremy came too.

"I don't see why I have to be here," Jeremy muttered. He was sitting off near the edge of the clearing. "I have the ring, don't I? I can't die."

"You might not also have it with you, Jer," Elena said in her mom-voice. "Something could happen to it and then something could happen to you."

"I can't take on a vampire!" Jeremy said, exasperated. "With or without the ring, I don't have supernatural strength."

"Not with that attitude." Damon stepped out from the trees. His signature leather jacket was gone, and in its place he wore a white wife-beater tank top.

Elena's eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing here?"

"You sure do know how to make a guy feel all warm and welcome." Damon smiled sarcastically at Elena. She rolled her eyes.

"I asked him to come, Elena." Alaric said. "Stefan, too. I need an extra set of hands to help out."

"We had a race here." Damon said, smirking. "I guess Stefan lost."

"No, you knocked over a tree onto me." Stefan said, entering the clearing. "You cheated."

"Minor details, brother." Damon grinned.

"Elena, you've made some unbelievable progress," Alaric said. "I thought you could use some hand-to-hand combat practice with an actual vampire."

"I promise I won't bite," Stefan smiled to Elena, taking her hand, " . . . much."

"And Caroline, since you are a vampire, I thought a greater challenge would be, well, another vampire." Alaric gestured to Damon. The vampire grinned and wiggled his fingers at her.

Caroline sighed and stood to her feet.

"I promise to bite, _a lot_."

"Oh, keep them in your mouth, Salvatore." Caroline snapped and brushed leaves off her butt.

Damon barely suppressed a grin. He didn't remember her always being so funny. But at least he hadn't forgotten how good she looked in tight work out pants.

"Damon, play nice." Alaric warned. Damon removed his gaze from Caroline and smirked at Alaric. "Come on, Jer, let's start with daggers."

"Seriously?" Jeremy leapt excitedly to his feet.

"No." Alaric said. He clapped his shoulder and led him out of the clearing. "Gotta walk before you can run."

"Let's go, Blondie." Damon motioned to her to follow him. "I have something special planned for us extra-special folk."

Caroline went with him, glancing over her shoulder at Elena wrapped up in Stefan's arms. She caught Damon watching them too.

"Do you think he's going to teach her anything?" He asked her as she walked by. For someone undead, he smelled really good.

"He's going to teach her something, alright," Caroline said. "But it's not out to fight off dead guys."

He turned and followed her. As they walked, she thought she heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "ducking Alaric."

* * *

><p><em>*AN Yay! Bad ass!Caroline is here and she's here to stay. But is she completely sure this is who she wants to be? Does she still want to be human!Caroline or vampire!Caroline? Will we ever know?_

_Thanks guys so much for the reviews! I promise there is Daroline and happiness to come, but we just need to build up to it! There've been some hints to their feelings of each other but next chapter will be a big leap for their relationship! _

_I don't really know where exactly in season 3 this takes places, or if it's even in season 3. I usually try to have my fanfictions fit in right with the story line of a certain season, but I feel like season 3 has been all over the place and I can't remember much before the winter hiatus. This takes place sort of around there, before Stefan went Ripper and Klaus was consumed by the fans, meaning he was still the big bad. Just to put in perspective for you guys._

_I originally had these chapters at about 11/15 pages each, and I realized even I don't have that much attention span. So I broke it down into shorter pages, but I'll be releasing them in pairs of two. They work better that way. _

_Reviews are super appreciated, so thanks to all of you who did!_


	4. Chapter 4: Turning Tables

**Chapter 4: Turning Tables**

_His own fear came from the realization of how much that hurt._

* * *

><p>"Ok, that was cheating." Caroline said from the ground.<p>

"All's fair in love and war, baby." Damon said above her.

"Now, get your hand off my throat."

He smirked and let her go. Caroline stood up, dusting dirt off her back. "You said we weren't using vamp-speed. If you hadn't cheated, I totally would have kicked your ass."

"Right, because every bad guy you're going to fight is going to fight fair." Damon said, pacing easily in front of her. "You wanted to know how to fight like a vampire, this is how. Now, c'mon, try again."

Caroline's knees locked. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. She clenched her fists. Damon stared at her, his eyes narrowed, waiting for any movement. There was silence. A twig snapped. A flock of birds erupted from the trees. The wind blew and rattled branches. The live earth moved beneath their feet.

Then she darted forward.

Her arms outstretched, she meant to knock him over— but he took her by the shirt and yanked her up over him to throw her to the ground again. Caroline's heart quickened as she sailed over him._ Oh, no, not again!_

Her hands gripped into vices around his shoulders and as she hit the ground, he tumbled down with her. They rolled, one trying to best the other for higher ground. They collided with a tree. Her leg jerked up, hooking under him, and she kicked him across the clearing. He flew and smashed into a tree. There was a massive cracking sound and as Damon slid down, the oak snapped in half.

But his feet had barely hit the ground when he leapt forward with a backhand that Caroline was sure broke her jaw. She popped it back into place and gave him an upper hook that knocked him off his feet. He hopped up and darted at her. He shoved her into a tree, and she shoved him back across the clearing. Another loud crack. He threw her backward, she stumbled, and he kicked her in the chest.

He kicked her in the face. Caroline tasted blood. He kicked her again. She felt a tooth chip as her jaws crushed together. He darted forward and pushed her off her feet.

"Come on, Blondie." His eyes were alight. He smeared the running blood from his nose with his forearm. "We were having fun."

Caroline stood up and pulled a branch that had pierced her side all the way through. It was dripping blood. She shook leaves from her hair.

"I'm not even close to being done."

She swung with her right arm. He ducked. She swung with the other fist. He step-sided it and backhanded her across the face. They paused.

"You're going to have to do better than that." He sounded breathless.

"I'm trying." She gasped.

"Try harder." He said, through gritted teeth.

—_Damon, pushing her back to bed—_

—_Damon, ripping the flesh from her neck—_

—_Damon, biting her back as he methodically rode he in her own room—_

—_Damon, holding a stake to her heart when she first became a vampire—_

A hiss reverberated in her chest as she whipped about to face him, her pointed teeth bared. Caroline barely glimpsed his shocked face before she leapt onto him. She threw him so hard to the ground, the forest floor shuddered. She roared in his face. His face changed and he roared back. He grabbed her and threw her away from him. She came at him with fast punches. He blocked two but the last one, she slammed right into his face. He stumbled back and Caroline didn't hesitate. She swooped down and snatched up the branch that had pierced her. She landed on him, straddling his hips. The point of the branch lay directly over his heart.

Her golden hair brushed his nose as they lay face to face. Damon's breath hitched. Caroline never remembered being this close to him since becoming a vampire.

If she breathed, their bodies could be completely touching.

Suddenly Damon wrapped his legs around her ankles and he flipped her. Caroline felt her knee crack and she gasped as he landed on top of her. They stared for a moment before he lowered his head and put his lips to her ear.

"You have this power and you're still afraid to use it." He murmured. "You're a vampire. Start acting like it. Next time, finish through with the kill."

When he climbed off from her, she felt tears sting the corners of her eyes. She lay there for a minute, staring at the recently risen moon, forcing herself to keep the tears in her eyes.

"Get up, Caroline." Damon said. His back was facing her. His shoulders were tight. "We're supposed to meet them back at seven."

* * *

><p>Stefan had taken Elena, Jeremy and Alaric back in his car. Damon and Caroline decided to run back. In opposite directions, of course.<p>

She hadn't stood in the clearing for more than a second longer after they agreed to reconvene at the Salvatore house. She wouldn't look at him. She didn't speak. She just looked . . . hurt. Out of the corner of his eyes, Damon watched her clean dried blood from her hands on her pant leg.

"So, good day, everyone," Alaric had said, smiling. "I know Jeremy learned how it feels to get his ass kicked. Repeatedly."

Jeremy scowled. "I'm hungry. Either drop me off at the Grill or order pizza."

"Sounds like a plan." Alaric nodded. "Is that alright?" He looked at Stefan. The vampire nodded.

"We can take my car." He continued. "But there's not room for everybody. Damon, Caroline, would you mind—,"

Caroline was gone in a brush of leaves. Damon stared at the ground. Stefan was the first to look at him.

His eyes read, _what did you do?_

Damon only smiled. "Well, since she's off, I'll be going too."

He turned and sped off into the dark. He dodged trees, weaving in and out of moonlight. Cold wind flew by like nettles but it didn't bother him. He didn't really feel it. All he could feel— all he could see— was Caroline's face, sad and smelling of tears. He ruined the one day where she didn't glare at him out of disgust. Out of hatred. Out of loathing. Out of fear.

His own fear came from the realization of how much that hurt.

* * *

><p>Caroline stared at her face in the mirror. Black lines marked the path of the mascara ruined by the tears. She couldn't stop crying. And she wasn't entirely sure why.<p>

_Come on, Forbes, pull yourself together! Don't you dare let him see you like this!_

But it was more than that. It was that she had failed. She couldn't be a good human, not now that she was tainted as monster. She was ruined, impure. Her father had made sure she knew that. This was the second day that had gone by without her parents knowing her where she was or who she was with.

_They probably don't care if you're dead or alive, _a nasty little voice inside of her head said. _They actually hoping you are dead. Caroline Forbes, daughter of the town sheriff, is murderous, bloodsucking horror. Mom has probably been plotting a way to kill you the second she saw you with that bloodstained mouth._

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. Another sob wracked her body.

She was also a pathetic vampire. Damon Salvatore made sure to remind her of that.

"I can't do this," she cried aloud. "What am I?"

_Where do I belong?_

She heard the front door open. Gasping, she ran a cloth under some hot water to clean off the smeared make-up. She managed to look semi-presentable before she sped down the stairs to greet them.

Jeremy was happily snacking on bread rolls, while Ric carried the other two boxes of pizza. Stefan and Elena, hand-in-hand, followed in after the two.

"Hey, guys" Caroline said in what she hoped was a cheery voice. "What took you so long?"

Alaric raised an eyebrow and waved to the boxes in his hand.

"Ah, right," Caroline nodded. "Guess Jeremy couldn't wait."

"Oh, no," Stefan chuckled. He threw himself onto the couch. "It was Alaric who couldn't wait to get back here and play some more Skyrim."

The skin around Alaric's neck flushed red. "Hey! I just—,"

An ear-shattering screech echoed out from the servant's courter. Stefan was on his feet.

"What's he done now?" he muttered and sped off down the stairs. Caroline glanced at Elena, who had turned white, and followed him with her vamp-speed.

When she entered the room, she gasped. The old man was sprawled out on the bed, sweating. His skin was tinged yellow. Red spittle poured out the side of his mouth, staining his mangy beard. His eyes were constantly rolling back in his head, the whites the color of grey paste. His body, as thin and knobby as skeleton, twitched and his wizened chest spluttered to keep breathing. And at his side knelt Damon.

Their hands were clasped in what looked like a prayer. Then she realized the man was speaking.

"And I had a family, you know? A wife that loved me, and two beautiful little boys. I was just wanted to provide for them, you know. Be the man they could respect. I didn't know it would end like this. I'm never going to get to say goodbye, am I? I'm never going to apologize for all the terrible things . . . terrible, terrible things . . ."

Elena burst through the door, Jeremy and Alaric sharp on her heels. She gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"I don't want to die, but I can feel it." His breathing worsened and a shaking hand grabbed Damon by the shirt. "Tell them I was a good person. Tell them I died without fear."

"What's going on?" Elena breathed. Stefan shook his head mutely.

The old man coughed, blood flying. He sucked in breath and his whole body shuddered, like it was rejecting the oxygen. Like his body was rejecting life. Fat tears leaked down his cheeks, drawing blood down through his beard and onto his heaving chest.

"I don't want to want to die!" He sobbed. His body started to convulse again. "But I can't take this pain!"

He screeched again. The scream faded in a violent sob.

"I can't do this," he howled. "Please, please, I can't! Please ki—,"

Before their eyes, Damon stood up, grabbed the man's head and snapped his neck. His body went limp and the last bit of blood spilled from his mouth onto the pillow beside his crooked head. He was still at last.

Damon couldn't remove his eyes from the body.

"Damon," Caroline began. "What—,"

"You son of a bitch!" Elena screamed. She walked up to him and slapped him. "You didn't have to kill him! We could have brought him help! Or given him vampire blood! What were you thinking?"

Damon's mouth fluttered open and shut. He wouldn't meet Elena's eyes. He took a step back, and bumped into the wall, looking surprised to see it was there.

"How could you, Damon?" Elena started to cry. She was furious. "You psychopath! He was a poor innocent man, who was sick and dying and his last wish was to see his family, and you took that away from him! This is a whole new low, Damon!"

Damon's mouth slipped over words. "I— you— you don't understand."

"I understand perfectly." Her teeth were gritted. "You think that whoever comes in this house is just yours to play with. You can kill whomever you want because you're the big bad vampire! Well I've had enough of it, Damon! I'm sick and tired of you prancing around—,"

"Elena." Caroline barked. "Shut up."

Damon looked up and met Caroline's eyes from across the room. Elena stopped mid-sentence and swiveled her brown, tearstained eyes towards the blonde vampire.

"Wh-wh-what?"

"Shut up, Elena." Their eyes were still locked. "Damon did what he had to do because it was the right thing. He was in pain, dying slowly. Damon saved him from another hour of torture."

"But we could have given him blood, vampire blood. Or taken him to the hospital," Elena protested. "We could have saved him."

"Sometimes, people can't be saved." Damon said to Caroline. He had managed to find his voice. His gaze finally shifted to Elena. "He wanted to die. So I gave that to him. I thought you'd be proud of me."

He glared at Stefan, before walking heavy-footed up the staircase and disappearing.

"Caroline," Stefan said slowly. "Take Elena upstairs to my bedroom. I'll be there in a minute. Alaric and Jeremy help me move it."

Elena shivered as Caroline led her up the stairs.

* * *

><p><em>*AN More chapters to be posted later today. Just wondering if this is easier for anyone out there to read! Thanks all!_


	5. Chapter 5: Conversations with the Dead

**Chapter 5: Conversations with Dead People**

_"Remorse eats you alive, Elena. I doubt Damon lives without remorse."_

* * *

><p>Caroline stood outside of his door, unsure of what to say or if she should say anything at all. But the way he had looked at her downstairs—<p>

His eyes begged, _don't leave me_.

Caroline bit her lip.

"Get in here, Barbie," came his sullen voice from the other side of the door.

Cautiously, she opened the door and found him stirring a new drink. "Want one?" he asked. "It's this magical little potion that makes all the crummy feelings go bye-bye. I've had two already."

"Damon, look," Caroline sighed. She ignored the rumpled bed. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable being here or not. "What Elena said was wrong— inexcusable— but you can't get wasted every time she says something cruel to you."

"Oh, no," Damon scoffed and slugged back the drink. "Because if that were the case, I— the immortal vampire— would have died of _liver failure_ a long time ago."

"She was just freaked out by the whole thing." Caroline continued. "This guy was lying there, pleading not to die and you just sort of did it."

"He was delirious. He didn't know what he was saying." Damon stared at the bottom of his glass.

"I'm not saying you were wrong, but—,"

"What are you doing here, Caroline?" Damon asked, exasperated. "Don't you have bunnies to kill with Stefan?"

Caroline sighed. "I'm here, to apologize. For Elena. And, to thank you for this afternoon. It answered some questions that I've been trying to grasp."

"Like what?" Caroline refused to look at him, but he sounded genuinely interested. It was probably the brandy talking.

"I know I'm not human."

Damon gave a derisive snort. "No, you haven't been since your heart stopped beating."

"But I'm also not a vampire."

He looked up from his drink. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"We broke up more than a year ago, Damon, and you can still push me around." Caroline said firmly. Their gazes held each other. "Granted, we broke up because you fed on me and tortured me as your play thing, but you still control how I feel about myself. You still make me feel pathetic and worthless, like I can't do anything right. I'll never be a real vampire until I have a say in how I feel."

Damon dropped her gaze. He leaned on his armoire, shaking his drink. "Being with me was torture?"

Caroline's heart knotted. "That wasn't the point of this conversation, but yes. Because I felt like I couldn't control anything. I was powerless. But that wasn't just with you. I let boys— my friends— my parents— walk over me because I was so desperate to be liked. To have someone to call my friend. I know that's shallow and vapid, but I'm working on it. I might have been ruined, once I became a vampire, but I'm trying to fix it."

"So you came all the way up here to tell me that you're a horrible person and that I'm a dick boyfriend? If I needed that, I would have just stayed and let Elena yell at me." He finished off his drink.

"I came here to tell you that I'm becoming a better person." She leaned over to catch his eye. "And you're helping me do it. You're making me realize that I still have hope."

"I inspire hope?" Damon tried to sneer, but his words came out soft.

"Yes." Caroline nodded. "Because you did the right thing tonight. You did the right thing when no one else could." She paused, taking a breath. "And that's not just hope, Damon, that's being a hero."

* * *

><p>When Caroline entered the living room, she found only the couple comforting each other. Stefan had his head resting on Elena's head, wide-eyed and staring at nothing. Elena had her eyes closed and Stefan's shirt bunched into a ball in her fist.<p>

"Where are Jeremy and Alaric?" Caroline asked.

"Alaric took him back home." Elena answered, her voice wavering. "I thought it would be better if he didn't sleep in the same house as a murdered man."

"Elena," Caroline walked over and stood in front of her. "Damon did not murder that man. He saved him from agony. He did right."

"I can't believe you're taking his side." Elena said, new tears falling from her face. "He just killed him, without asking, without hesitating. Without remorse."

"Remorse eats you alive, Elena." Caroline said darkly. "I doubt Damon lives without remorse."

"When exactly did you jump on the Damon-is-a-hero train?" asked Elena, appalled.

Stefan was staring off into space.

"I'm not on anything of his!" Caroline scowled. "And when did you decide to act like a cold bitch?"

Elena jerked her head up, mouth agape. "Caroline!"

There came a knock at the door. Caroline rolled her eyes and strode off to answer it. She unlocked the bolt and opened the door. She stumbled backward.

"Daddy?"

"Hello, Caroline."

There stood Bill Forbes, smirking without using his facial muscles. His eyes were cold, like painted glass. He stood on the Salvatore doorstep with an overcoat and his glasses slightly askew. The car thrummed warmly behind him. In some perverted way, he could have been a kindly old chauffer waiting patiently for a bride to take her to a wedding. But she knew going with him would only cause her intolerable pain.

_Oh my god, no, no, no! Not here!_

"Daddy, how did you find me?" She breathed.

"Mr. Forbes?" Elena was walking towards them, Stefan close behind. "It's so late. What are you doing here?"

"Finding my daughter, to take her home." He smiled pleasantly. Caroline felt her heart drop. "She's been a very bad girl."

"Caroline," Elena asked. "You didn't tell your parents you were here?"

"N-n-n-no," Caroline stuttered. She felt tears prick her eyes again. "I—I, uh, I—,"

Bill removed his gaze from his daughter and instead turned his attention to Stefan. He stared at him inquisitively.

"Did you do it?"

"Do what, sir?" Stefan asked.

"Kill my daughter and turn her shell into a hideous monster."

Elena's mouth dropped. "What are you talking about?"

"You're a vampire, right?" Bill asked sweetly. "And it wasn't until you came to town that my daughter's life was ruined and she was plagued by a disease there is no cure for. Did you Turn my Caroline?"

"No, sir, I didn't." Stefan stared, dumbfounded.

"Ah, well," said Bill. "No matter. Come, Caroline, your session begins in five hours."

"Wait, Mr. Forbes," Elena said. Her eyes darted from Caroline to her father. "What sessions?"

"Elena, please don't let him take me." Caroline didn't even realize she was crying until she tasted salt on her open mouth as she talked. "I can't do it again."

"What is he taking about?" Elena asked, her eyes wide. Bill Forbes was shaking his head behind them.

"Come, Caroline, we need to go. You're sick!"

"Please, please don't let him take me! I don't want to be burned again!" Caroline grabbed onto Elena's forearms. She was near sobbing. "I can't take the pain! It hurts so, so badly!"

"Caroline!" Bill grabbed her shoulders and began to pull her towards his car. "I'm trying to help. Come with me! NOW!"

He suddenly gasped in pain. Caroline felt the grip on her shoulders release. She turned to see Damon twisting her father's hand, inches away from breaking it.

"She said she doesn't want to go." Damon said coolly. "I suggest you listen."

"You people are sick! Diseased! There is no cure but you can hide the symptoms!" Bill Forbes groaned. "I'm trying to provide the best life I can for my daughter!"

"You lost those privileges the moment you made her feel unwanted." Damon turned the wrist. Bill let out a sharp gasp.

"Damon, stop, you're hurting him!" Elena cried.

"Caroline just said that he has been torturing her. I say that's grounds enough for a good heart ripping-out-ing. Or at least, decapitation." He smiled sadistically and twisted the hand a little bit further.

"Damon, stop it! RIGHT NOW!"

"Caroline?" Damon asked, still looking at the writhing man on the floor. "What do you have to say for this?"

"Get him out of here." She muttered. "Don't break his arm, but just get him out of here."

Damon grabbed Bill by the neck, glaring daggers, and threw him from the porch. He rolled and stopped just before the car. He stammered to his feet, looking dazed and clutching his arm. Damon quietly shut the door.

There was silence and Caroline sniffed.

"I thought you were upstairs." Stefan said, his eyes narrowed.

"I was." His brother replied simply. He didn't look at Caroline at all as he swaggered around the corner and back up the stairs. "Just dropped in to inspire some hope."

"Do you know what he's going on about?" Elena asked Caroline.

"No idea," she replied. And then she smiled.

* * *

><p>Bonnie lay sweating in her bed. Her breath was ragged and harsh. Her eyes fluttered open and closed. Her father had brought around some soup. It now sat cold on the bedside table. If her father had been there to take her fever, it would have been in the hundreds. She was shivering.<p>

She felt the decay of the Earth, breaking down her insides and rotting her core. She felt how sick it was and as an instrument of nature, she felt every sick leaf, every diseased tree. She tasted the poison of the water in her mouth and the sting of acid rain. She moaned, the breath of sulfuric acid leaving her mouth.

And then the visions hit.

Corpses rising from their graves, their yellow and black teeth gnashing.

Entire forests wiped out in fire and decay.

Mothers dying from a fever. Fathers returning with white eyes and bloody mouths. Children screaming in fear and pain.

The town of Mystic Falls was burning to the ground as corpses ran and attacked citizens. A family was run down and their flesh torn from their bones by grinding teeth. Their screams reached above the roar of burning fire.

_Bennett, save us. _

Bonnie sat straight up. Her fever was gone. The shivers were gone. For the first time in days, she breathed easily and freely. She looked up at the ceiling.

"Yes," she said fervently. "I won't let it come to pass. I won't waste your gifts. I will stop the destruction of Mystic Falls if it's the last thing I do."

* * *

><p><em>*AN Anybody scared yet? Take any guesses to whose going to be infected?_

_Bonnie's back and kickin' in fully witchy gear! Stand back all who dare defile mother earth!_

_And the Daroline? What are ya'll thinking? Seeing the differences between Delena and Daroline? Liking them, yes? Damon sort of culminates in all her uselessness and pathetic feelings. She had feelings for him, but they're always conflicted with anger or fear. He is physically attracted to her, thinking her too dumb to be capable of a real relationship. The speech at the end begins to change that. And you'll just have to wait and see where this newfound respect for her leads . . . _

_ON NEXT WEEK'S CHAPTER OF IFITTEOTW!_

_P.S I have no idea where this fits in for any season, but I'm guessing early Season three. Some people might call this "forgetfulness" or "an inability to pay attention to detail" or "that bitch is crazy messing with timelines" . . . and I call it "artistic liberties". _

_P.S.S I'm starting to become a huge Bonnie fan and I'm now super pissed there've been like no Bonnie appreciation for like EVER, so I don't know if she even lives with her dad. We've never even met him! If she doesn't, then oh well, you're gonna deal. I have plans for Judgy Eyes in some later chapters which I am super psyched about! I really wish they would give a bigger background to Bonnie in the show though, but for now, my idea of Bonnie will have to do!_

_Thanks for listening to my ramblings! And SUPER besos (kisses) to all those who reviewed! _


	6. Chapter 6: What We Find in Floorboards

**Chapter 6: What We Find in The Floorboards **

"_The destruction of Mystic Falls is on our doorstep and we haven't even started preparing for war."_

* * *

><p>The following morning, Caroline was awoken by the smell of coffee. Before she had Changed, she hated coffee and Steven (her dad's boyfriend) had always told her that it would cause breakouts. Being Caroline, she accepted this without much thought and stayed far away from the stuff. Once her vampire senses kicked in and when going every second without blood was like scratching a chalkboard with a broken nail, somehow the tang and bitterness of black coffee numbed the thirst, if only for a little bit. The guys at Starbucks knew her by name now.<p>

She pulled on sweatpants and house shoes and soon she was padding down the hallway to the kitchen, careful to keep the floorboards from creaking. She found Elena sitting at the island and stirring a cup of tea, a pot of coffee boiling behind her.

"Hey, Elena."

Elena looked up and gave her a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Hi." She motioned to the coffee pot behind her. "Stefan mentioned that coffee helps take the edge of thirst, so I thought with the extreme dead guy stinking up the basement and your dad making clearly unwanted appearances, I thought you could use something."

Caroline sighed and pulled up a stool to face her friend. "Add about a bottle and a half of brandy and I'll take it."

They let out weak laugh.

"So, uh, Caroline, what did your dad do, exactly, that's made you so scared of him?"

Caroline couldn't meet her eyes. She wasn't sure what to do with her hands, lying limp on the counter. She remembered sunlight burning them, like fire eating away at her skin. She remembered screaming, begging for it to end, and her father watching from the shadows. She put her hands out of view.

"He tortured me." She said finally. "He captured me and put me in the Lockwood cellar. He took off my ring and put me in open sunlight. All to get me to reject blood. In short, he hates the fact that I'm a vampire. And therefore, he hates me."

"Oh my God, Caroline," Elena murmured. "I am so sorry." She reached forward but Caroline pulled away. She couldn't take pity right now. Because that would mean admitting it was all true. Her father wanted nothing more than to cause her pain and agony for a crime she did not commit.

"It's alright. It's just now, when I see him, that's all I can see. The pain. And that's what I'm scared of. I can't face it. Instead of associating pain with blood, I associate pain with my dad."

Elena let out a sad noise and walked around to hug Caroline. She didn't return the gesture.

"You know, it's funny." Caroline said. "This was done to me. I didn't want to be a monster. I think my father thinks I did."

Elena pulled back and cupped her friend's face in her hands. "You are not a monster, Caroline. You are a hero, and a great friend and a great daughter. Your father just can't see that right now. But he will. He'll come around."

"Ha," Caroline scoffed. "So I just have to wait? No worries. I have all the time in the world."

Elena gave a sad smile and kissed Caroline on the forehead. She went over to the counter to pour out some coffee. Finally she sighed, shaking her head.

"You know, I just want to grow old and be somebody's housewife. Let someone else make all the decisions while I just relax next to the pool in a bikini." Elena said wistfully. "Just be pretty and useless, all day."

"Some days that sure would be nice." Caroline muttered as Elena brought around the coffee. "But honestly, no one can make the right decisions for me. I mean, look at where being dependent and silly has gotten me."

"Well, obviously, the universe isn't going to let me be useless, so I guess independence is going to have to work." Elena sighed and sat down in her seat again. "But in my perfect world, my guy would make all the decisions for me."

Caroline didn't let on at how frustrated that statement made her feel. "Yeah, I guess— oh my God, do you feel that chill in the air?"

The front doors of the Salvatore household were blown off their hinges as Bonnie Bennett entered the threshold. Caroline and Elena dropped their drinks and bolted into the foyer, their mouths agape. The wind whipped around her head, her black hair flying like the mane of a wild stallion. The wind silenced, leaves falling and dirt settling. Her usual brown eyes were a bright green.

"Guys, we have a problem."

* * *

><p>Damon was yanked from a particularly pleasing dream by a sharp knock at the door.<p>

"Go away, Stefan." He muttered into the pillow. "It's my day to be broody!"

"Bonnie's here." Elena said from behind the wooden door. "She says Mystic Falls is in danger."

"Ooo, shocker." Damon said and rolled over onto his back. "Must be a Thursday."

"No, serious danger." Elena went silent for a minute. "Damon, can you just let me in?"

"The door's unlocked. If you wanted access to my bedroom, all you had to do was ask."

She entered the room, rolling her eyes. "That is not what I wanted to talk about."

Damon put his arms behind his head, making sure she caught full view of his bare chest. "Then enlighten me."

"I wanted to apologize for the other night." She sighed. "I'm sorry. I was rattled and scared and shocked and you just made it worse. Caroline was right though, you did save him from a lot more pain."

"Oh, don't mention it," he shrugged. "Killing stuff is fun."

She stared at him, seeing right through his lies. He shook the image of Katherine's similar piercing stare from his mind.

"Well, great then." Elena said. "Come on, get up. Bonnie said there's something very important she needs to tell us."

"She found a warlock boyfriend she can do witchy spells with? Make those sparks fly?" Damon asked, grinning.

"No, like destruction of us all, bad."

"It's probably Klaus. We'll get him eventually."

"Damon, what the hell is up with this no-care attitude?"

"Maybe I've got nothing I want to fight for."

Elena rolled her eyes, her heart quickening. "This is so _not _the time, Damon."

"It's not an attitude." Damon sat up. Elena took several steps back. "Why fight a battle you have no chance of winning?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." She said and glared. "Stefan would do it."

Damon appeared in front of her.

"Come on." His words were so soft, they came out in a purr. "Don't you just want to try? Don't you want to know what I taste like?"

Elena stepped away from him, her heart fluttering. "What are you doing?"

"Not doing the right thing." He leaned forward, his lips parted, but she grabbed a book from the dresser and swiped him across the face with it.

"Stop it, Damon. I know you're not being serious."

Damon looked at her. "We used to have fun." The scrap on his cheek caused by the corner of the book was healing. He turned to put on a shirt. "Why don't you think I want to kiss you right now?"

"Because you have feelings for Caroline."

Damon froze. "Excuse me?"

"You didn't have to fend off Bill Forbes last night. Stefan and I could have handled it but you came specifically downstairs to tell him off. To protect her."

"Yeah, because having a vampire hunter in the house is not threatening to me at all!" Damon said sharply. He yanked the shirt over his head. "I was looking out for me, Elena! Me. And he knows you love Stefan and he knows what Stefan is. Staking him would right both wrongs in his twisted mind."

Elena watched him with blank eyes. "So what you did last night was for me?"

"It's always for you." He looked at her from under his thick lashes. "It always will be."

She looked away, swallowing something in her throat.

"I'm sorry, Elena, but your plans to play match-maker have failed." He scowled. "Now get out, before I change my mind about letting Stefan keep you."

Elena shook her head, but turned and left. The second the door closed, Damon turned and let out a deep breath, his knuckles resting on the dresser.

_Damn it._

* * *

><p>Caroline and the rest of the household had gotten dressed. Stefan and Elena were sitting on the couch, oddly quiet. Caroline wearily eyed the witch. Elena couldn't feel it, but Caroline definitely did: she had power coming off her in waves.<p>

Suddenly, her green eyes suddenly swiveled to meet Caroline's own.

"Hi, Caroline, you look good today." The smile she gave was genuine.

"Thanks, Bonnie." Caroline grinned back. "You seem . . . different. Happy, and a whole lot of kick ass going on, but different nonetheless."

"I am different," she said simply.

"Yeah, so where have you been? I thought you were sick."

"I was," Bonnie nodded and stood up, looking around. "The witches healed me for one specific purpose."

"Which is?" Damon asked in his sarcastic voice as he entered the living room. He didn't sit down but stood sulkily in the corner. "Make this quick, witch. I've got better things to do."

"The destruction of Mystic Falls is on our doorstep and we haven't even started preparing for the war."

"Hmm," Damon turned and poured himself a drink. Stefan's eyes darkened. "You see, that's what Elena here said earlier. I'm still a bit fuzzy on that part."

"It's a bit early for drinks, Damon." Stefan said. "Don't you think so?"

Damon squared his shoulders and faced his brother head on. "Shut up, Stefanie."

"Guys!" Bonnie snapped. "I'm serious. This is huge!"

"I'm sorry, Bonnie," Damon scowled at her. "But what is so freakin' important?"

"It's Klaus, damnit! Don't you guys see? He's trying to destroy Mystic Falls to show Elena how dangerous and quick her life will be without him! And he's doing it in the form of a plague!"

Stefan stood up. "What do you mean 'a plague'?"

Bonnie locked eyes with him. "I mean a disease that will spread across the entire town, affecting everyone in it. It takes days, maybe hours to kill you. You can be infected through blood exchange and once infected there's no stopping it. The fever burns your organs, and then your skin and finally it burns out your soul."

"And this is what he's releasing into town?"

"It's already here."

A moment passed. Those who did breathe took a breath.

"So what do we do?"

"Prepare." Bonnie said fervently, looking to each of her friend's faces. "Gather supplies and try and stop the spread. The Earth is sick. We may have only weeks before it hits the population on a massive scale. Until I find a cure, that's all we can do."

"Wait, they didn't give you the cure?" Caroline asked incredulously. "They gave you visions of imminent doom but they don't tell you how to stop it?"

"Nature can't predict the future, Caroline. It only provides balance. And this disease, this sickness, uproots the whole system. This doesn't mean just the end of Mystic Falls, this could mean the end of the world."

"Nothing like the apocalypse to light a fire of initiative, eh," Damon smirked. "So where do we start?"

* * *

><p>"Found the rosemary." Caroline said, picking up a jar from one of the shelves<p>

"Okay, check," Bonnie said, crossing it off from a piece of paper. She and Caroline were on herb duty, searching the Salvatore stockpile in a separate room of the basement for roots that Bonnie would need to begin understanding the disease. Stefan and Damon went off to make the extra guest-rooms suitable as needed. Elena and Alaric went to gather weapons from the Gilbert family cache. "Found three bags of it?"

"Nope."

Bonnie erased her marking.

"Okay, adding _tha_t to the list."

"Ugh, why don't you write down just everything you need and we'll go get it?"

"I don't think you recognized Hepatica, much less know where it grows."

Caroline frowned and went back into the shelves. "Ugh, fine."

The girls were silent for a minute before Bonnie spoke up again. "So how've you been? Elena told me about your dad."

"Good. I've been better, but I'm doing okay." They walked along the stacks, the item she was suppose to be looking for slowly drifting from Caroline's mind.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you." They caught eyes in between the jars. Bonnie looked so sad.

"Oh, no, no, you can't blame yourself!" Caroline cried and stopped. "You were being infected by a hundred dead witches to motivate you into saving the town! I think I can forgive a few days of your absence."

Bonnie smiled and they held hands for a minute under a pot of rhubarb. They kept going, looking for something Caroline really couldn't remember.

"But how can you just get over something like that?"

"I'm not. I'm really not." Caroline sighed. "I've learned to deal, that's all. But sometimes I wonder if my, uh, coping methods are really the right way to go about it."

"What do you mean?"

Caroline sighed and met her friend at the end of the isle. Bonnie looked confused. Caroline took her by the shoulders and led her to a small ladder and made her sit down. Then Caroline stepped back. She paced a little bit before turning, the perfect analogy in her mind.

"You like these shoes, okay? I mean, so, you are attracted to these shoes, but just on the physical level, you know? When you first got these shoes, they hurt you and made you bleed but you thought you could break them in. Make them into a better pair of shoes because you saw that they could be a seriously cute pair of shoes. But even though you wore them all the time, forgiving all the blisters and bruises, they just wouldn't fit. And so looking back at it, you're really pissed at these shoes for hurting you like that, so they just sit in your closet and glare at you. But you found other shoes that made you really happy, like really happy, but none of the other shoes had this spark that you had with this original pair of shoes. You look at your old shoes in the closet, sitting there and sad because they've been rejected over and over, but they don't deserve it because they're good shoes, on the inside. But now you're sort of confused, because you never really got a chance to talk things out with these shoes, and you're not the same person you used to be, and they're not the same shoes they used to be, and you like being around them and you might have feelings for them and they act like they have feelings for you but, you don't really want to go down that road again, because you're scared of being hurt, you know, you know?"

Bonnie stared at her. "What?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"You lost me after 'so you're attracted to these shoes,' . . ."

Caroline let out an exasperated sigh and flopped down next to her friend. Bonnie watched her curiously.

"I was never real good at English, but I'm feeling the shoes are a metaphor for someone else. Caroline, are you and Matt getting back together?"

"Oh I wish," Caroline pouted. "But no. This isn't about him."

"So there is a him!" Bonnie cried excitedly.

"No!" said Caroline. "There isn't. It's just . . . this vampire stuff is hard work. And Stefan's been super helpful, in every way, but he's always so tied up with Elena that I feel weird to ask for some help sometimes, you know?"

Bonnie put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand perfectly."

"You do?"

"It sounds like you need to find another vampire to have nasty hot vampire sex with." She grinned playfully.

"Bonnie!"

The witch threw her head back and laughed. It was so good to hear from her again Caroline couldn't help but join in.

"This isn't one of your prophetic dreams, is it?" Caroline giggled.

Bonnie smiled devilishly again. "Oh, this is definitely going to happen! I foresee it in my crystal ball!"

Caroline howled with laughter again as Bonnie comically put a hand on her forehead and the other waving into the ether.

"Ah, yes, I see, I see," Bonnie said in a low throaty voice, her face scrunched up into mock-concentration. "I see the future! You will end up with someone, tall, dark, and handsome! Oh, yes, I see a very powerful connection in your future!"

Caroline was laughing so hard she didn't hear the footsteps come down the stairs.

"Hey, Judge-y and Blondie," Damon poked his head around the corner. "Stefan and I are going to check on something real quick, then we'll be back to protect all your asses from the coming apocalypse, kay?"

The girls were grinning like devils. He scowled. "What?"

"Nothing, just having some fun." Bonnie said mischievously.

"No one can have any fun." He smirked. His eyes traveled to Caroline. She held his gaze with a fierce edge. "It's the end of the world. So you two stay here and have no fun and we'll be back soon."

He winked and left. Bonnie rolled her eyes. Caroline swallowed, trying to keep the warmth in her throat from flowing into her cheeks.

"Yeah, prophetic dreams, my ass." Bonnie said with a laugh. She stood up. "Wouldn't that be so weird if you dated Damon?"

"Yeah, totally weird." Caroline muttered.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is the spot?"<p>

"No, I got it confused with the other places I bury infected dead guys."

The two vampire brothers looked down into the clearly un-dug grave, and then back at each other.

"So he was infected with the disease that is going to overrun the town and probably the world," Stefan sighed and kicked dirt back into the grave. "And we just buried him. In the ground. Not even a binding spell."

"Come on, Stefan, we didn't know he was going to be a _khodunki_. We didn't think Klaus had that kind of power yet."

"Yeah, but we knew about it." Stefan said, looking at his brother. "We should have mentioned it."

"So every time, we hear something vaguely referenced from our past we should go into high alert mode?"

"Yes, when it involves Nazi War Criminals."

Damon set his jaw. "Told ya we should have decapitated Dr. Simmons when we had the chance."

"You wanted to do it because he used your favorite blood bag as an experiment." Stefan muttered, wiping his hands free of dirt.

"Yeah, well, if I had known his theory of reincarnation would help Klaus destroy the world with an army of the living dead, then I would have been a little differently motivated."

"We need to get our info back to Bonnie." Stefan said, nodding. "We have to tell her all we know."

Damon suddenly became very gleeful. "Ooh, do I get to tell Elena about the part where you had an all night sleep-over with the ladies of the night from Dawden House? Oh hey, no need to get all fangy, little brother."

* * *

><p><em>*AN Oooh, Nazi War Criminals and Klaus! Super Ass Kicking Mother Earth Bonnie! Conflicted Damon! Are his feelings changing? Who is this Dr. Simmons? Keep reading to find out!_

_Also, khodunki is the Russian word for "walker". You guys can figure that out on your own! We love reviews!_


	7. Chapter 7: Everything You Fear to Hear

**Chapter 7: Everything You Fear to Hear**

_Suddenly tears were trickling down her face as the realization struck her that her entire family could be dead right now._

* * *

><p>"Are you sure?" Bonnie stared at the two brothers.<p>

"Yes. It's the work of Dr. Simmons for sure." Stefan said seriously. "It has to be."

"So you know why it was created, but do you know how?"

"We know it was a lot more science than magic.

"Not a problem." Bonnie said simply. "The field of science has always come naturally to me. Before I just assumed it was my lucky subject in school, but now, it all makes a lot of sense, you know? Nature, science, it's all connected."

"Well, can you connect the dots to get us some answers?" Damon snapped. "Can you figure this out or not?"

Bonnie scowled at him. "Yes, I can get it done. But I'm going to need a lot more supplies and time. Someone needs to get supplies from downtown."

"Do you know if the supernatural can be infected?" Stefan asked.

Bonnie shook her head. Stefan looked at his brother. Damon sighed. "I am so not in the mood to die today."

Bonnie frowned. "What? What are you thinking?"

"Damon, Caroline and I will go into town. We're the fastest and can fight off anything that comes in our way. We'll round up people as we see them and get your supplies. In and out, no problem."

"But we don't know how many people have been infected! We don't even know you can be infected yourselves!"

Damon grabbed his brother in a one-armed hug.

"Ah, we like to live life on the edge!"

* * *

><p>"Life on the edge, my ass! This is suicidal!" Elena cried as Stefan, Damon and Caroline strapped on bags and satchels, fanny packs and backpacks for food, medical supplies and herbs. Bonnie wasn't letting them take any chances. "Stefan, how can you be on board with this?"<p>

"We'll be in and out before you even know what's going on." He said, trying to reassure her. "There are people out there that need our help, Elena, and we can't just leave them."

"But, Stefan—," her voice was pleading with him. He stopped and cupped her face in his hands. "I will be okay, Elena, we all will. We will come back."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight."

Caroline turned towards the front door, rolling her eyes. She caught Damon watching her. As they stepped through the threshold, he mimed barfing.

* * *

><p>"So many shops, so little time . . . before the world falls into chaos." Damon, Stefan and Caroline stood in the center of the town square. It was deathly quiet. Leaves fluttered, limp and brown. The wind huffed in slow breaths. "Where shall we start the looting?"<p>

"We're not going to loot anything, Damon. For all we know, it could just be a slow day."

"He's right, Stefan," Caroline said, trying to listen for anything that sounded like a threat. "We don't know who's dead and alive. I say we just grab stuff and go."

A chill rustled the air. It made the hair stand up on the back of their necks.

"Spread out. Keep your eyes out for anything." Stefan muttered as they walked along the street. There were still no sounds of life. Many shops were boarded up, their doors locked and windows barred. There were no signs of vandalism, but the air was still, like a calm before the storm.

"Here's the drug store. Bonnie's list says we need Tylenol and Xanax."

The other two gave Stefan a look. He shrugged his shoulders. "She says there's something in the ingredients she needs."

"Yeah, at the end of the world, we're all gonna need a little Xanax." Damon muttered under his breath. He shook the handle to the pharmacy. The door was locked.

"Caroline," Stefan asked. "Do you have any—,"

CRASH

Damon kicked the glass in with his heel. Still smiling at his brother, he reached in and unlocked the door. He bowed as it swung open. Scowling, Stefan led the way inside.

The lights were off but the alarm didn't sound as the three vampires entered into the store. It was part drug store, part convenience store.

"See what you guys can get here." Stefan said. "I'll get the drugs."

"Haven't heard that come out of your mouth in a while," Damon said, grinning as he looked around. His brother shook his head and walked off towards the back. Caroline pulled out her list and began to search. Here and there she found energy bars, gauze and toilet paper. On other isles, she found milk, soap and in the natural remedy section, two vials of melatonin, vitamin C and something you put under your tongue to stop ulcers.

"Since we're all going to be trapped in a house together for God knows how long, should I get condoms?"

Maybe she should stock up on the ulcer remedies. Caroline turned, her eyes narrowed incredulously, her head shaking. Damon was standing behind her with a box of XXX sized condoms.

"Speaking a little optimistically here, aren't we Damon?"

"Hey, you never know. We could just pick up a hot little tottie in need of some comforting." He pouted. "Oh Damon, protect me, I'm just oh-so-alone and scared! Kiss me and make my problems go away!"

Caroline crossed her arms as he puckered his lips into an imaginary kiss. "I mean the size on the box, hot shot."

She strode past him as he looked at the box. She heard him chuckling behind her. Never would she admit this to anyone, but his laugh always made her chest expand with suppressed glee. Stefan came around the corner.

"Did you find the medicine?" Caroline asked. Stefan nodded, but his eyes were distant. "But something's not right. Let's just hurry up."

Caroline nodded and turned to go. Damon walked past him and threw the box into his hands. "Maybe you'll grow into them one day."

Stefan gave Caroline a look. She raised her hands in surrender. "Hey, he's your brother."

"And sometimes I wonder why."

"Enough Idle chitchat." Damon called from out front. "We've got food to raid."

From Stefan's look, Damon rolled his eyes. "It's not like we paid for those nonprescription drugs you just took."

"Look, I've had about as much as I can take with you!" Stefan snapped. "You've been nothing but a nuisance since we left the house!"

"Because I'm thinking realistically?" Damon asked, his voice elevated. "Even if half of what Bonnie says is true, then things are about to get real bad, real fast. You can't stop this by having a conscience!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Stefan yelled back. "I'm trying to hold everyone together!"

"You're being stupid!" Damon snapped. "Survival means doing what you have to do to live!"

"We don't have to become monsters! We don't have to be like them!"

Damon's eyes flashed with anger. "You know what, _little brother_, screw you!"

While they yelled, Caroline was listening. She thought she had heard something and now she was sure about it. It sounded like . . . shuffling. It was getting closer. Something also smelled foul in the air.

"Guys!" Their fight was coming near blows. "GUYS!"

The brothers looked at her. "Can't you smell that?" Frowning, they stepped apart and sniffed. The stench suddenly amplified. "Oh my God!" Caroline cried and put a hand over her mouth. "That's disgusting!"

Stefan's eyes were suddenly wide with alarm. "We need to get out of here NOW." He turned— and stopped dead in his tracks.

A mob of corpses— one much, much greater than the one that attacked the Salvatore house— walked forward down the center of the town square. They moaned and groaned and shuffled forward, their teeth gnashing and eyes missing or a bright yellow.

"You know, I'm usually not in favor of calling it quits before a fight begins." Damon said as they slowly backed away. "But I think this time I'll make an exception."

Caroline nodded mutely.

"Get out to the woods." Stefan whispered urgently. "Meet at the site of the witches graves. GO!"

Caroline had never run so fast in her life.

* * *

><p>Caroline stumbled to a halt, her chest fluttering. <em>So many people, so many dead. How many of them were people she knew? <em>

She looked up and noticed Damon watching her worriedly. She opened her mouth to say something then Stefan tumbled to a stop next to her.

"We have to get back to the house." He said, speaking quickly. "Bonnie has no idea it's gotten this bad. We're days late, maybe weeks."

"Stefan, I can't go back!" Caroline cried, whipping around to face him. "What if that was my mom in that crowd, or Matt?"

Suddenly tears were trickling down her face as the realization struck her that her entire family could be dead right now. _And I didn't even say goodbye._

"I'll come with you." Damon said. "We both will."

"But Elena—,"

"Yeah, I know, _Elena_," Damon snapped. He said this with such aggression, Stefan took a step back. "She'll be alive when we get back. Or so help me God, I will tear apart every creature alive or dead until I get to Klaus. Then I'll kill him too."

He pushed passed Stefan, walking back towards town.

Caroline was shocked. She reached out a hand and touched his shoulder. "Damon, I—,"

He yanked his arm out from under her touch. "I'm not doing this for you." He spat and walked on. "We're going to the Lockwood mansion first."

And when they arrived, none were expecting the scene that lay before them. The bodies of policemen littered the grounds. Some were missing limbs, others their stomachs. There was just a heap of flesh and bone that was completely unrecognizable from any human. The corpses of the diseased were here too. Gunfire shots pierced their heads and some corpses were missing their heads all together. The front door was swinging off its hinges. Shattered glass perforated the porch like crystallized rain. There were no signs of life. The once green law was stained red.

"Oh my God," Caroline cried, tears pricking her eyes. "What happened?"

"The apocalypse." Damon said simply. "Come on. Someone might be alive inside."

But there it was no better. The walls were smeared with blood and the smell of rancid flesh poisoned the air. Bodies, infected and otherwise, filled the halls like perverted furniture pieces. The floor was slick with blood.

"How could anyone be alive in this?" Caroline murmured.

"Wait." Stefan said. "Listen."

And Caroline closed her eyes, begging and praying she wouldn't hear scraping, or thudding or shuffling. She didn't. Instead she heard voices.

"Someone's alive," she said.

"In the basement." Stefan said and bolted down the stairs, Caroline and Damon right on his heels.

But when they got there, no one was there. The sound was louder however. Caroline almost recognized one.

"They're in the walls." Damon said. "Must be a secret passageway." He began tapping on the walls. The voices ceased. "Ms. Lockwood! Tyler!" he called out.

The wall behind him creaked and turned. Out of it, tumbled Ms. Lockwood, Tyler and—

"MOM!" Caroline cried. She cleared the room in one stride and grabbed her mother in the biggest hug she had given her in years. "Oh God, I thought you were dead!"

"I thought you were dead too!" Tears were flowing freely from her mother's eyes. "You haven't answered your phone in days and I just assumed the worse!"

Caroline gave a watery laugh through her own stream of tears. "I'm so sorry about the phone! I promise I will NEVER not answer a call from you again!"

"What happened up there?" Stefan asked. "It looked like a war zone."

"It was," Ms Lockwood said. "Once people found out about the disease, a lot of them came here for protection and guidance. The police force came down to help, but that only made things worse. We found multiple cases of infection and once someone sneezed, the chaos just exploded. Some of those bodies up there are just bystanders. We came down here once the gunfire broke out."

Caroline was still wrapped up in her mother's arms. A gentle hand stroked her back.

There had been times when she wanted to rip her mother's head off, to just up and leave Mystic Falls without another look back. But those were the times when she had forgot how safe she felt with her mother's arms around her, her head leaning against her own. She promised she would never again forget what this felt like.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Caroline." Her mother said. But then she pulled back, clearing away the tears. "Did you know your father is in town?"

Caroline frowned. "Yes, didn't you?"

"Look, I hate to spoil the perfect family moment," Damon began. "But we need to get going. Those things could come back."

"They're gone now?" Ms Lockwood asked, stunned.

"Everyone up there is dead, Mayor Lockwood." Stefan said. "But Damon's right. We saw a herd of them today. We don't have much time."

Ms Lockwood nodded. Caroline had never seen her without some sort of dress on. Now she wore pants and a long sleeve shirt. Her eyes traveled to Tyler. He had been watching her this entire time. Damon didn't seem to notice or care.

"We need to get you all home. Let's go."

"But I can't leave without Matt." Caroline said firmly. "I have to see if he's okay."

"Tyler and I will take Ms Forbes and Lockwood back to base camp." Damon said. "Stefan, go with Caroline."

"Damon, this is not the time to be having this fight."

His brother froze and spun on his heel. He stood right in Stefan's face. "I'm faster than you. I can get these people to safety faster. Unless you'd like to take a bite out of Mama Lockwood right now, you will go."

She gasped behind him.

"Mayor, I would never do that," Stefan said quickly. Then he focused on Damon again. He nodded grudgingly.

Damon smirked. "I'll send her your best regards. Come on, ladies, wolf-boy, off we go."

With one more quick hug from Caroline to her mother, they left the basement. Stefan wiped his face tiredly with his hand.

"I'm sorry, Stefan." Caroline said. "I just have to find him."

Stefan lowered his hand and gave Caroline a hard look. It was as though he was asking _are you sure?_ And then the stare relaxed and he nodded.

"Let's go. You lead the way."

* * *

><p>Matt's house wasn't as nearly as destroyed as the Lockwood's. In fact, no one could tell anything was wrong. If there wasn't barbed wire wrapping the fence and no bars on the windows or a padlock around the door, there would be no signs of the apocalypse at all. Stefan and Caroline easily jumped the fence.<p>

"Matt!" Caroline called through the windows. "Matt, are you in there?"

Stefan went around and knocked on the door. "Matt, hello? It's us! Caroline and Stefan! We're here to help."

"I can't hear anything." Caroline muttered worriedly.

"Tell him I'll pay for the damages."

"What?"

CRASH

Stefan had kicked down the door.

"Ok, beast, thanks for that brute strength." Caroline rolled her eyes and hopped into through the door. Stefan picked up the door and set it back in its frame.

A gun clicked to her head. Immediately Caroline's hand went up in surrender. "Matt, it's me!"

She heard him sigh with relief. He took her into a big hug. "Jeez, Caroline, you scared the crap out of me!"

"I'm so glad you're alive!" Caroline pulled away from the hug. "It's gotten so bad out there."

"I know." He smiled his Matt-smile and somehow the world wasn't about to end. "Why do you think I boarded up everything?"

"Well, come with us," said Caroline. "We're staying at the Salvatore house. It's safe there."

Matt's smile fell. He looked at Stefan over Caroline's shoulder. "Like in their house?"

"Yeah, why?" Caroline's own smile faltered.

"Is it safe?"

Caroline frowned. "Of course it is. Bonnie and Elena are there now. Matt, what's wrong?"

"And you trust them?"

"Of course I do."

Matt watched Stefan wearily then nodded. "Ok, let me go get some stuff."

Caroline looked over her shoulder at Stefan and she shrugged. "Yeah, I'll come with you."

"So how you been, Mattie?" Caroline asked and sat down on his bed. He pulled out a duffel bag from his closet and started packing up clothes.

"Besides being nearly eaten alive by this guy at the grocery store, just fine." He grinned. Caroline laughed nervously. "Sure does make me thankful I have Boy Scouts under my belt."

"If someone told me Boy Scout training helped in the apocalypse, I would have been shocked." She giggled. Matt laughed too.

"But is that what this is, Caroline?" He stopped and turned around. "Is it really the end of the world?"

"I don't know, Mattie. Bonnie seems to think so." Her jaw was set and she held her head high.

He stared at her and then his gaze dropped and he laughed. "Even when you were little, human Caroline, you never got scared at the right moments."

From her sad expression, he continued: "You were just always this super girl that decided what was going to hurt her and what wasn't. Sure, something someone said might hurt your feelings one day but then the next, you'd be in revenge mode or bring-it-on mode. You were always so strong."

"I cried when we broke up." Caroline said quietly. "I was a mess. For days."

At that, Matt lost his smile and turned back to his duffel bag.

"I've been eating animals, Matt. Stefan's teaching me how to live without people blood. Yeah, it sucks but it's the right thing to do. And I want to do it. For you. For us."

"Oh, come on, Care!" Matt said and turned around, slightly irritated. "Don't pretend that Tyler meant nothing to you!"

"Of course, he did!" Caroline stood to her feet. "But with him, he was this connection to another world of vampires and werewolves and demons and pain. You were my safety, Matt. I'm so weak because of the animal blood. I'm almost human."

She felt tears and she knew he could see them. "Would you take me back if I was human? Because I'm sorry for what I am! I can't help it! I hate what I am! I hate who I am! Please Matt—,"

He took her in his arms and she cried softly into his shoulder. He held her just like he had a million times before and would do a million times again. "I'm so sorry, Mattie, so sorry . . ."

"No, no, Care. It's not your fault." He stroked her hair gently. A while passed and the tears subsided. With a small smile, he led her to the bed and made her sit down. He looked her straight in the eyes.

"I love you, Caroline. And I always will. You have to know that."

"Is this about Elena?" She sniffed. "Do you still have feelings for her?"

"Would I have dated you if I did?" It was his turn to look hurt. Caroline shook her head. Matt sat down next to her and took her hands with his. "I love you." He repeated. "But you have to know none of this has to do with Elena. Or even you. But Care, I can't be with you. Vampires have ruined my life. They killed my sister. They drove my mom out of town. I don't blame you for what you are, but what would that say about me if I just ignored it? You deserve someone so much better, someone who not only look passed the fact that you're a vampire, but someone that accepts it. They'll love you for it and see you for the strong, beautiful girl you are. But for once in my life, I have to look out for me, you know?"

Caroline understood. She really did. She smiled at him through blurry eyes.

"Come on," she said, wiping her face semi-clean again for the second time today. "Stefan's waiting."

* * *

><p>*<em>AN Let me just be clear: I love Matt Donovan. Like I want a Matt Donovan: American boy, good heart and will love you because that's all he knows how to. He's strong and sensitive and just agh— love that SOB! Anyways! _

_So yeah, Mystic Falls is looking pretty royally screwed right now. We'll see how THAT turns out. _

_Also Conflicted Damon AGAIN! Are his actions done for Elena's sake, to piss off Stefan, or because Caroline might mean more than a happy fun time and a snack?_

_And poor Caroline, her and her problem with "shoes" . . . WHATEVER WILL BE DONE?_

_But okay, just to warn you guys, next chapter things are gonna jump from about a 5 to a 20 on the intensity scale. Real sh** will go down. I even might post THREE CHAPTERS to try and contain all the insanity! AAAAAAAND the actual TVD comes back next week, so in the immortal words of Captain Jack Sparrow: "Drinks all around!"_

_REVIEWS FEED OUR INNER COOKIE MONSTER!_


	8. Chapter 8: Rough Cut Design

**WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS CONTENT THAT IS RATED M, FOR MATURE.**

**Chapter 8: Rough Cut Design**

* * *

><p><strong>Tracy Chapman, Crossroads<strong>

_Some say the devil be a mystical thing._

_I say the devil he be a walking man._

* * *

><p>It was dark by the time they arrived home. Elena was waiting on the front porch. Her face lit up as she saw the three emerge from the darkness.<p>

"Oh my God, you're okay!" She rushed down the lawn and grabbed Stefan in a hug. She kissed him fiercely. Matt raised his eyebrow at Caroline. She just shook her head.

"The Merry Band of Misfits returns at last." Damon swaggered out onto the porch. "And here I thought it was going to be the hot Salvatore _brother_."

"Matt, I am so glad to see you!" Elena moved to him and gave him big hug. "I prayed that you were alright."

"Yeah, I'm fine." He smiled. "Aren't I always?"

Elena smiled. "Come on, we have plenty of extra rooms." She took Stefan's hand and led him back to the house, but as they crossed the threshold, Damon stood in front of him. "Not tonight, little brother. You're on watch."

"I'll do it." Caroline said. She stepped forward. "I'm not sleepy. Let Stefan take the night off."

"Thanks, Caroline." Stefan said. He turned and wrapped his arm around Elena as they headed off to bed.

Damon scowled at her as though she had personally sucked out all the joy in the world. "Buzz-kill, much?"

"Maybe he can finally put to use those condoms you so kindly procured this afternoon."

He narrowed his eyes at her. What he said next surprised them all: "Would you want to break them in?"

"Whoa, hey!" Matt stepped in between them. "What the hell is going on? Caroline, you're dating Damon Salvatore?"

"No!" The two vampires said quickly.

Caroline stared at the ground. Part of her was very glad Matt had said something because she honestly had no idea how to respond to the question Damon had just proposed. From his slightly shocked face, the question didn't seem to be entirely of his own control. And then there was a very dark part of her that was screaming a single word:

Yes.

"Keep your tidy-whities on, Donovan." Damon said. "I'm not making a move on your girl. Just having a bit of fun, ay?"

He clapped Matt on the shoulder as he headed back into the house. But behind Matt's back, he gave Caroline a single look that made her head feel light. The door shut behind him.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" Matt asked seriously.

Caroline waved it off with a flick of her hand. "It's nothing, Matt, I swear. He's just been cooped up for a while. He'd make a pass at a sprinkler if he thought it would get into bed with him."

Matt stared at her, obviously not entirely believing her story. Then he shrugged and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll just be inside if you need me."

"Thank you, Matt, for everything."

He smiled and went inside.

* * *

><p>It was near midnight. The house was quiet. The moon hung half full above the entire grounds, making any movement easier to see with vampire eyes. There was a little wind, a slight brisk to the air. <em>Winter was coming<em>, her senses told her. _Batten down the hatches and prepare for survival of the fittest._

Caroline sighed and leaned her head against one of the columns. What was going to happen? Where could she go? Could they survive this war? Was it really the end of the world?

A light clicked on in the upper rooms and out of the corner of her eye, Caroline caught it. She looked up and saw Damon walking across the window, bare-chested and drying off his obviously wet hair with a towel. He was reading something.

_What are you doing, Damon Salvatore? What could possibly keep you so interested? _

Caroline continued to stare.

_What are your hopes and dreams? Tell me. I'll listen. I promise._

And as she thought and thought about the person behind all the black leather, all the snide comments, all the sarcasm, all the obvious pain— something sharp struck her back. She turned to see a small dart sticking out from her shoulder blade.

"What the—,"

Suddenly the world began to spin. Time was jagged. She felt weak. She slumped to the floor. Vervain.

Strong hands suddenly grabbed her up under her shoulders and began to drag her. "Come on, baby girl. Now more than ever you need this."

Caroline managed to keep her eyes open long enough to see her father dragging her off the Salvatore property, towards his truck.

"No, I'm alright." She murmured.

"You're not right now." She heard him say. He dropped her in the back of the pick-up truck. "But you will be."

* * *

><p>Caroline groaned. She lifted her head and with a horrifying realization, she was back in the Lockwood dungeons. Her arms dangled above her, clasped to the rock by metal chains. Futilely she jerked at the chains and gasped when she felt them sting her skin.<p>

"Iron dipped in vervain," a shadowed voice said. "A vampire's worst nightmare." The shining glasses emerged from the dark. He held something long and skinny in his hands. "Hello, Caroline."

"Daddy, what are you doing?" She cried.

"Trying to avenge my little girl." He stroked her hair with a calloused hand. "I thought we've already been over this."

Caroline didn't dare disagree. "What are you going to do to me?"

"I'm going to test to my experimentations, see if you do reject blood. If you do, then you will get on the train out of Mystic Falls tonight. I have everything packed for you. But if you still believe you need it, then the process will continue."

"What happens if I can never reject blood?" Caroline asked, tears in her throat.

"The extermination is the final key step."

Caroline shuddered, tears falling from her face. "Daddy, you can't do this."

"Watch me." He turned and extracted a blood back from the duffel bag on the floor. He split it open with a knife. He lowered it into Caroline's face.

Caroline bit her tongue, trying with every ounce of strength she had to keep her fangs hidden. Her tears fell harder from the pain in her tongue and in her gums. _You don't need it. You don't need it. Fight it, fight it!_

But she was a vampire now. She hadn't had human blood in weeks. Her jaw dropped open, her fangs springing forth and she snapped at the bag. Bill yanked it backwards. He stared at his growling daughter and then, with the long, black instrument, he lightly touched her bare forearm.

Caroline screamed out in agony as an electric shock rocked through her body. Her arm sizzled. Caroline begged the pain to go away, but it barely lessened. Through the tears, she looked and saw the wound wasn't healing.

"A nice weapon I bought out from some warlocks." Bill said as though he was selling a product. "Slows down the healing processes in vampires, if only for a little while. I can't imagine what else they'd need it for unless to torture the scum. Either way, my gain."

He reached forward with the blood bag again. Caroline, still reeling from the pain, couldn't resist this time. Her fangs came out and the hunger lurched in her stomach.

The instrument fell upon her thigh. She shrieked again.

"Daddy," she whimpered. "Please don't do this. The end of the world is coming. I'm a good girl. I hunt animals."

"But I can't be responsible for the human deaths you one day will accumulate."

"I won't hurt anybody, ever." She begged.

"You can't promise that."

He waved the blood bag again. Her fangs protruded her gums and again, a shock convulsed her body.

"Why don't you believe me? What can I do to make you believe me?" She sobbed.

Bill stopped and looked at her, truly interested. He lowered the bag and instrument and bent down to look her in the eyes. "Caroline, it's not the vampire side of you that I'm worried about. You were always so brainless as a child. You were so vapid, and self-obsessed and easily won over by anything or anyone. You are a whore, Caroline, and whores cannot resist their desires. You will thank me for this one day."

Bill made the incision on the bag bigger. He squeezed it and blood came shooting out of it like a sick waterfall. It fell on her face, on her chest, in her hair. It poured into her open mouth.

"Now resist, Caroline, resist."

Oh God, it was like ambrosia. The blood, it was so . . . _perfect_.

And something inside her broke. It broke in two, cleaved in half by anger, rejection, sadness and loneliness. She was so tired of fighting these two halves of her, the human and the beast. The cold beast that craved blood, that wanted flesh in her fingernails, the beast that lusted and wanted to bend her body unimaginable ways; the monster inside of her that was fighting for control had finally gained some ground. The old Caroline gave up and crawled deep inside the recesses of her conscience and sat there, crying, scared and hurt by the world around her. Her humanity faded and all the pain, all her betrayal, all her guilt fell into a chasm and was swallowed by the vampire within.

Her head lifted into the air. The blood droplets rolled from her mouth and dripped onto the stone floor. A dark growl reverberated in her chest.

"Caroline?" Bill watched her carefully and curiously. "Can you hear me?"

She hissed, her fangs growing steadily. He took a step back. "Caroline isn't here right now."

And then she roared. She yanked and pulled and jerked against the chains. Dust filtered down from the ceiling, rocks moving and shaking and straining under the weight. Bill stepped back, looking up fearfully.

"IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?" She screamed. "IS THIS WHO YOU WANT ME TO BE? YOU'RE RIGHT, DAD, I AM A MONSTER AND YOU'VE JUST PISSED HER THE HELL OFF!"

She snarled again and gave another forceful jerk to the chains. The rocks crumbled, the chains hissed against her flesh, and then the chains gave way. They fell to her feet like crippled snakes.

"Now, Caroline," Bill's voice shook. The weapon was out in front protecting him. "Don't do something you'll regret."

"Too late." Caroline stepped forward. "I'm going to do a whole lot of things I'm going to regret."

And she pounced. He only had time to yelp before she knocked the instrument from his shaking hands and her fangs buried themselves into his neck. She drank and drank and drank. Blood rushed down her throat. She felt him become weaker in her hands. His heartbeat faded to a few beats per minute. And then she let go.

She slumped back, her body singing like a tuning fork. Everything was bright. She could see every crack in the wall, every hole in the floor. She heard a mouse scrambling in between the roots of trees. She smelled blood from the hospital. She smelled blood from an animal carcass in the forest. She smelled blood everywhere.

She was no longer scared. She was no longer in anguish. For the first time since dying, she was finally alive.

Her hand shaking, she drew her fingers across her bloody mouth. She looked at the blood with clear eyes. _You couldn't waste any drop_. Her tongue gently lapped the blood and then she stuck all of her fingers in her mouth, sucking and licking. She took a deep breath.

From across the floor, her father made a soft noise, like a broken bird, and she remembered her anger. She chuckled.

"Are you happy now, Daddy?" She stood up and walked over to him. He was pale and wheezing. She watched him with gleeful eyes. "Is this what you wanted? Is this the monster you wanted to see? Well, congratulations, you got her. Good bye."

And she turned and walked out of the cellar, leaving her father bleeding on the stone floor.

* * *

><p>Damon still couldn't sleep. He thought a shower would help calm his nerves, but it was useless. He couldn't stop thinking about Caroline, about what she had said about him being a hero, about how good it had felt to have her under him in the forest. But then, the guilt came. <em>Elena, Elena, Elena<em>— why, how could she have such a hold on his heart? Why was it a bad thing not to love her? Did he still love her? Of course he did. Who would he be if he didn't?

_You give me hope, Damon. I'm trying to be a better person._

He poured more brandy into a glass. He looked at the thin line of amber, then shook his head and took a swig straight from the bottle. From under the tray of liquor, Damon pulled out the picture of Katherine, from way back in 1864. He remembered how powerful she made him feel, how cherished he was in her eyes. How, even as a human, she made him feel alive, like no one else had before. When she told him they would be together forever, that moment was the best night of his natural born life. Was that the reason he couldn't love anyone else? Why he only loved Elena? Whenever he thought of her, it took him back to the moment of his eternal happiness. It took him back to the moment before he killed for sport, before he had sex instead of made love, before the idea that eternity was a terrifying prospect. Before he became this person he was disgusted with. Damon truly believed that Elena led him back to being human.

Then why— oh God, _why_— did Caroline make him feel whole?

Damon turned and threw the picture into the flames roaring in the fireplace.

* * *

><p>Caroline made her way back home, stunned and amazed by the world around her. Every sound was a harmony. Every light was a shooting star. Every feeling was intensified. She had nearly gotten lost twice. But somehow, she made it back to the Salvatore house and stumbled in through the doorway. There the candles burned like individual suns, warm and gentle. The carpeted walls felt like the fur of kittens and without really knowing what she was doing, Caroline staggered into one, pressing her face deep into the gentle fabric. She sighed happily. Then she turned and caught her image in a mirror. Her mouth was stained red, her clothes scarlet. She almost smiled, but then her face straightened and she knew through the haze that she had to go get cleaned up before anyone saw her.<p>

She climbed the stairs. As she walked through halls back to her room, something caught her like a magnetic field. It was a door, just a single door. But she couldn't take her eyes off it. Her body, suddenly loose and malleable, dragged itself to the panel. She put a tender hand on the handle. It was warm and hard. Caroline sighed softly into the door, a dark pleasure coming from just the other side. She pressed her body against the wood, her senses flaring—

The door opened and Damon stood there, his eyes clouded.

"Caroline, what are you doing here?" When she didn't answer, he frowned. "Is that blood?"

She stepped into his room, part of her shirt slipping off her shoulder. He shut the door after her. "It is."

"Whose?"

"My father's."

His eyes grew wide. "What! What happened?"

Caroline rolled her eyes and sat down on his bed. "Oh come on, Damon. Let's not talk about that right now."

Damon's head was pounding. He looked down. "Then what do you want?"

Caroline watched him with emotionless eyes. Her head cocked to the side. "What do you want to do to me?"

"What?"

"Come on, Damon. My body is humming with power— with life, with love, with lust." She watched him carefully with the eyes of a predator. "Don't you want to share it?"

He took a step backward, his body shuddering. _She had no idea._

"Caroline." He choked out. "I can't."

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you." She stood up and walked forward, pressing him into a wall. Their noses barely touched. "Kiss me. I dare you."

And she forced her lips upon his. Damon's senses went wild. She tasted so good— the blood, her lips, all of it. Her tongue forced his jaw open and began exploring every crack of his mouth. The dried blood on her lips became wet and full of life again as his tongue licked it clean from her teeth. But when her fangs pricked his bottom lip, he pulled away, reality suddenly weighing down on him.

"Caroline, stop it." He shuffled to his bed, his knees weak. "Not like this."

She growled. "You know what? I suddenly realized you don't get a say in this." She stalked over to the bed and grabbed his shoulders. She flipped him around and threw him onto the bed.

"Don't." He muttered.

She climbed on top of him. Her torn shirt was dangling around her shoulders. Her hands ran down his chest. "I like this policy of yours. If you want something, you go out and take it. No matter of who it hurts."

She bent down, her nose running across his jaw, her teeth bared. She kissed him forcefully. His body lay still and rigid beneath her, the strength to resist taking all concentration. "You want it. You take it. You have it."

And her fangs pierced his neck. He shuddered, but she wasn't feeding. She was making him hurt. She tore at his skin until the blood poured down his chest, staining the pillow a caustic scarlet. "Want." The blood made his shirt wet. She ripped through it like butter. She left a trail of bloody kisses across his shoulder. There she bit down, tearing at muscle and tissue. "Take." His body heaved with pain and pleasure. Her wet hands peeled back his shirt, leaving his hips exposed. "Have." She bit down, ripping into the meat. Blood gushed over his sides, contaminating the cream sheets. Damon gasped in sensual bliss as the scarlet stream surged into the crevices of his hips and down into his pants. His hands fisted the sheets beneath him.

"Caroline . . ." he moaned.

"Tell me to stop." She breathed. "I'm begging you."

His eyes opened and they met hers across from the bed. A pause. A sickening pause. A moment to change. A moment to go back. A moment to forgive.

He jerked forward and grabbed her by the arms— and his lips crashed into hers.

She moaned in his mouth, hands sliding across his hips and the left one turning red with blood. His chest hissed and suddenly, his fangs were slashing at her neck, her throat. Blood rushed down her back, covering his hands in plasma. He cupped her neck, pulling at her hairline, making it sticky and wet. And then he kissed her, his mouth full of blood, her blood.

He slid out of his shirt and threw it to the floor. She pulled herself out of her sticky shirt and threw herself against him. The bed shuddered as they hit the mattress. They kissed, biting and sucking because it was in their nature. His hand snaked down her pants, sliding and rubbing and sending her senses into overdrive. His bloody fingers slipped on the buttons as he unhooked her jeans and she crawled out of them. His nails left marks dotted with blood as he dragged them over her bare thighs, up her backend. Her tongue drew blood up his throat, sucking on his earlobe.

Their hips brushed as he pulled himself out of his own jeans. His hand gripped her shoulder, like he meant to turn her over, to be on top, to make the first move into a long night of thrill, ecstasy and screaming. She grinned maliciously and shook her head, her hair matted with blood. She slammed his body to the bed, kissing and ripping.

"Remember this the next time you wanna fuck that frigid little bitch," she whispered in his ear, her body settling into position. She moved forward.

They gasped with pleasure. Her knees ground into the bed, his hands grasping her thighs. She bucked and felt her body was on fire. He let out a breathy moan. She moved in the primal pattern of adults, of lovers, of those scorned by love. Of those unwilling or unable to move on.

Her body slipped into a rhythmic wave and soon his joined— hips falling and rising, collecting sweat among the sheets. They created a single motion. A single breath. A single pair of warm bodies inter-coiled and connected. A single heartbeat.

She wanted to watch the desire burn hot in his eyes. She leaned over and kissed him.

"Don't stop, Caroline." He panted. He could barely form sentences. Sweat beads appeared on their flesh, souring the blood. His head rolled back, exposing his damp neck. "Don't stop."

"I can't breath, Damon," she moaned, her voice raw.

"I know—," his breath caught as a shockwave of elation expanded out from their hips. She screamed a little. He reached forward and brought her head down. They watched each other out of shocked eyes. Gentle breathing. Their noses touched as they moved in succinct motion. Never a full breath gained. Soft, tender noises, like the gasps of first spring. He kissed her, quietly. His hands moved to her hips.

"Stop," she whispered. "I can do this."

"I know. I just want to touch you." He kissed her and his head slid into the crevice of her neck and shoulder. She felt his heated breath flow down her naked back. Shivers went down her spine. "You can't break me, Caroline." He whispered in her ear. "Hurt me."

The motion slowed. Blue eyes met blue eyes—he nodded—and they fell headlong into each other. Snarling, she leaned back and shoved his arms over his head. Both hands readied themselves on his sides and she threw herself into him. The muscles contracted, tight from lack of use. But the pain—_the pain_— it blossomed like a flower within her and his grunts in her ear, his breath on her neck, set it ablaze. And fall they did— into regret. Her skin burned from the friction. His sticky, warm hands wrapped themselves around her forearms, desperate for more. Conscious or not, his thumbs stroked her, as if to say, _yes—this is perfection_. His body spoke in ways his mouth never could.

She bit down on his throat, reopening the wound there. He ripped into her shoulder, the blood splattering onto his chest.

The night continued in this same brutal, animalistic way. Sometimes they bit each other until the blood pooled into a pond. Other times they ended up against walls, writhing and gasping. At some point during the night, the bed snapped in two. But the two didn't notice or care. They screamed out that could not be said; to themselves, to each other, to the people they loved. They had no idea what they were doing, but it felt right, to be wanted so madly, so deeply. With blood staining the bed, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, they could not have been more removed from humanity, their humanity. As he kissed her, and as she pressed herself against him, over and over again, they were monsters. They were killers and for once, they acted as the world told them to be. Blood, love, lust, hate, desire— they let it all sink in, and gave in to their instinct. When they rolled in the discolored sheets and legs and arms and fingers tangled together, they forgot what humanity meant and how badly each of them missed it.

Just before dawn, before the light of a new day tarnished what had been a truly enlightening night, their energy was spent and they fell asleep.

* * *

><p><em>*AN: So . . . yeah, and the REALLY messed up part isn't even here yet. If you skipped this chapter, you can message me for a shorter version._


	9. Chapter 9: All We Are

**Chapter 9: All We Are**

_Sexual energy gives off different vibes, just as other elated emotions would, but there is a defining characteristic to it that sets it apart. You can taste it._

* * *

><p>Morning came with a sense of dread and fear for Caroline Forbes. She opened her eyes to a destroyed bedroom. The bed was dismantled, the wood snapped in half and splintered. Red smears and handprints stood out on the walls and floors like perverted Easter Eggs: bright and a heavy reminder of their depravity. Books were knocked from their shelves, his dresser was in shambles and the sheets were strewn about the room in bloody heaps. She soon found herself without a need for a sheet, because although they lay beneath a massive duvet, Damon had fallen asleep with one of his arms wrapped protectively around her.<p>

She stared at the door. She could try to unhook herself from him, but that would probably wake him up and that would lead to talking, and right now, Caroline had absolutely no words for what happened last night. The second choice to this otherwise unpleasant situation was to just simply lie here, in the place that often found itself into her dreams. Gently, she took his hand to intertwine their fingers and—

"You can leave." He said softly into her ear. "I'd understand if you want to go."

Caroline grimaced, her lips biting themselves. "Damon, please, let me explain—,"

"You don't need to. Now I know what it feels like to be used."

Alarmed, Caroline sat up to face him. "What?"

He looked at her from the floor with sad eyes, dried blood clinging to his face and neck. His hair was tousled, only increasing his akin likeness to that of a wounded puppy.

"You came to me last night and wanted something from me that I didn't know I could give." His eyes narrowed tenderly, painfully. Then he looked at the ceiling as if the answers were written there. "I'm not sure if I like knowing that I gave you what you— what I— wanted."

Hot shame burst into her cheeks. It tasted bitter in her mouth. "Then why'd you let me do it?" She snapped.

"I saw that look in your eyes." He said quietly. "You were looking for something last night and it wasn't companionship. It wasn't sex. You were trying to even the score, and I can't say I really blame you."

She couldn't be here anymore. She couldn't take him looking at her, with that— _what was it?_— pity, sadness, longing—she reached over and grabbed one of the less bloody sheets to wrap around herself.

As she stood up, the fabric slid back to reveal the burn mark on her thigh from the instrument her father used on her.

"Oh my God, Caroline!" Damon sat up and gingerly touched the wound. She felt as though she should pull away from his fingers but she couldn't. His mouth dropped open slightly and guilt drowned his face. "Did I do that?"

"No, no! God, no." She fervently shook her head and let the sheet curtain the wound again. "My dad, he used something on me, like a cattle prod. He said it slows down the healing process."

"Christ, Caroline," he muttered. "What happened? You owe me at least that."

Caroline shook her head, her eyes wet. "I don't owe you anything, Damon. Like you said, last night was about getting even. And I won."

She couldn't look at his face as she turned and went to look for clothes. She felt him watching her as she dug through piles of splintered wood, trashed books and broken glass. She found something that looked vaguely familiar. It was her shirt, torn in half. She found her pants a little farther away, the zipper ripped clean from its track. When she found her panties, Caroline nearly burst into tears: they were in shreds.

"Oh God," she cried, the back of her hand pressed to her mouth. "We were like animals. Disgusting animals."

"I remember." Damon had pulled the duvet over his hips and propped himself up against what looked to be an old bookcase. He was staring at her. "Are you really that surprised?"

"I can't believe how far gone I was."

"Human blood does that to you. It gives you a high like nothing else."

"Is that what it was? I was high?"

Damon's face was expressionless.

"If you want it to be."

"God, just stop! Stop with the eyes and the face!" Caroline said and threw the remains of her clothes to the ground. "I forced you to have sex with me last night! Aren't you just a little bit mad?"

"You didn't force me to do anything. I didn't have to bite you, Caroline." He suddenly scowled and dropped her gaze. "I certainly didn't have to enjoy it as much as I did."

"You liked it?"

"God, I loved it." His head rolled backward on his shoulders as though the memory consumed his thoughts. "I could still taste the human blood when I kissed you. Everything about you was delicious."

She turned away to hide her blush. And then a terrifying thought crossed her mind. Her lip trembled as she looked to face him.

"So then what happens now?" Caroline asked in a small voice. Damon visibly gulped. "We can't be together." She said quickly. He nodded dumbly. "You can't start anything good in that revolting sort of way." He just nodded again.

Her heart squeezed uncomfortably. This is right. This was the right thing to do. _I can't be with him again. Look at what he makes me do. Look at what he makes me feel._

"We're going to continue on like we always have and maybe these feelings— this thing—will just go away." She couldn't meet his eyes. "Right now, I need pants. Everybody needs pants."

Damon nodded. "Go shower. I'll clean up here."

"I have an extra set of clothes packed in the guest room. If I could just—,"

"I'll get it." Damon said. "Go, clean up."

They stared at each other from across the room. So many things were left unsaid but neither was brave enough to speak them aloud.

"Thanks."

Caroline turned and walked in the bathroom. He watched her shut the door, and then he put his head in his hands.

_What the hell did you just do?_

* * *

><p>While Caroline showered, Damon found some pants and a shirt beneath the wreckage. He eased into them and used the adjacent bathroom to clean the dried blood from his face. He'd get the rest later. Carefully, he closed the door behind him and snuck off towards the guestroom. His hand was on the handle, when someone came up behind him.<p>

"Damon," Stefan snapped. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Damon grimaced. How the hell was he going to explain this?

"Morning, sunshine."

"Don't be glib." Stefan said scowling. "It's your fault I was kept up all of last night."

_Caroline's going to love that . . ._

"Well, technically, there are two parties involved—,"

"Really? Huh. Well, apparently, I'm doing something wrong!"

Damon's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Well if you need help in that area, then usually something's wrong with your plumbing, brother—,"

"It's not _my_ plumbing that has the problem!" Stefan snapped. "I was up all night listening to it and it was driving me crazy!"

"Oh my God, ew, you listened?" Damon shuddered. "I know we're suppose to be a family, but that's going a little overboard, don't you think?"

"It's kind of hard to ignore when it sounds like the house is falling apart! With all the creaking and bumping, I was surprised that damn toilet didn't crash through the ceiling and crush us."

Damon stared in complete confusion. "You're talking about the toilet?"

"Yeah, you left the water running so the tank wouldn't fill up and it messed up the plumbing. It made noises throughout the entire night." Stefan's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?" Damon asked innocently. "And you put a sound-proofing spell on my room, didn't you?"

"After you started dating that news reporter, there wasn't a time when the walls weren't shaking." Stefan said, obviously disgusted. "I figured it would be better for the sanity of, you know— me— if I couldn't hear your bedroom escapades."

Damon smirked. "Good to know, little brother."

"Oh God, did you actually find some girl to sleep with last night?" Stefan sighed. "Where do you find these girls?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Stop being so melodramatic. It's not a pretty color on you." He went to move past his brother, but Stefan grabbed him.

"I can smell something on you. Almost like perfume."

"Get away from me, you bloodhound!" He pushed his brother away and the sleeve on his arm was accidently pushed back.

"What's that, on your arm, if not last night's snack?" Stefan said, pointing. Indeed, there was crack of dried blood on his forearm. Damon casually rolled down the sleeve to cover it.

"Oh this? I must have cut myself on a wine tray. Wound healed but blood still there. Crazy how those vampire things work." He forced himself to not think about how the blood had really gotten there.

Stefan was clearly unconvinced.

"Now, if you excuse me," Damon began. He pushed open the door to the guestroom and snatched a Vera Bradley bag from the top of the shelves. "I ran into Caroline. She was on the search for Elena and Bonnie, something about nails and spa thingies. I didn't want to have to spend time with Queen Annoying so I sent her on her merry way, promising to bring her the supplies she needed for a 'totally sweet nail party'!" He adopted a higher tone as he finished his sentence. "Bye, Stefanie."

* * *

><p>Damon found her sitting in the middle of what used to be his bed. She had found a shirt of his somewhere and put it on, her still-drying hair framing her face like liquid gold. She was nervously biting her nails and she jumped up when he entered the room, bag in hand.<p>

"Did anyone see you?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"I ran into Stefan." She blanched. "But don't fret. I'm a master liar. I don't get to be the diabolical brother for nothing. Besides he didn't hear anything. He apparently sound-proofed my room a long time ago."

He grinned and handed her the bag. She smiled back weakly. As she searched through the contents of the bag, his heart tightened. She was obviously uncomfortable, upset and it was his fault.

"Damon, um, I need to change." She held the clothes in front of her, like a barrier. "Would you, uh, mind—,"

He nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'll, uh, go shower."

While the water was still running, Caroline gathered her clothes from the night before— what was left of them, really— and left his room. As soon as she shut the door, she released a breath that she had been holding for a while. If she was confused now, last night didn't help even slightly. What did he think it was, other than entertainment? In retrospect, she should be a little pleased that he enjoyed it so much. But is that how she wanted to be thought of by him?

_You are a whore, Caroline, and whores cannot resist their desires_.

When Caroline had previously thought about Damon Salvatore by the sober light of day, there were feelings of anger, repulsion and an odd mix of attraction. Now, all she felt was regret.

* * *

><p>Bonnie loved her friends. She really did. There was little that she wouldn't do for them. Countless times she had laid her life on the line to save them. She never regretted those decisions, not once. She never would. It so happened that the lives of her friends were often intertwined with the balance of nature, the forces of good and evil and the veil between chaos and peace. So if she saved them, nature could continue unblemished. If nature continued, they were saved.<p>

She didn't mind working, spending hours flipping through old Salvatore diaries, old war records, old military papers, looking for some clues the boys might have missed about Dr. Simmons. About Klaus. She knew the key to saving the world wasn't in an instruction manual, and if it was, then the minute adoration she had for researching would be completely lost. She liked the research, flipping through dusty papers and old photographs. Her mind wandered throughout the night. Her heart pinched when she thought of her father, safely away on a "business trip" that had suddenly and mysteriously come up just before the plague had struck Mystic Falls. But if she failed, there was no place far enough away to be safe.

It wasn't all bad. In fact, Matt had stayed with her most of the night. He had helped her research, looking and underlining and taking notes. When his eyes started to droop, he went off for coffee and brought her some as well. Matt, good Matt. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to be in the middle of the apocalypse. He deserved to be at home, chopping wood or washing his Ford, or whatever it is the perfect American, home-made boy did. It was nearing dawn when he finally fell asleep for good. She woke him minutes later to send him to bed. At this point, the circles under his eyes forced him to agree and waving good morning, he went to his guest room. Ms. Lockwood had come up later, asking what to do to help. Bonnie asked her to make breakfast. Ms. Forbes followed her an hour or so afterward, asking what to do. Bonnie said count the rations. Jeremy came up later, looking as tired as Matt had. She knew he wanted to talk. But Bonnie shook her head and he nodded. And then, to his credit, he sat down and began to help her.

Bonnie really did love her friends. She understood that for Elena and Stefan (and probably Damon) every threat was a life or death situation. One was immortal, the other was not. Didn't seem like much of a contingency plan, Bonnie thought only to herself, but if it did make her friend happy, then who was she to judge. The only part where Bonnie became a little miffed with it all was when she could smell it on them the next morning. Ok, so not so much smell, as _sense_. Sexual energy gives off different vibes, just as other elated emotions would, but there is a defining characteristic to it that sets it apart. You can taste it. If you're romantically involved with the one sending off the energy, it had been described as near orgasmic. But if you're not the intended target, then, well, it tastes a little like sweet chalk.

Of course, Stefan and Elena had no idea they were sending off such powerful waves. How could they? But it was never a pleasant thing to know exactly what your friends had been doing in the dark recesses of the previous night. But Bonnie knew. She knew because the sweet chalk tasted . . . fresh. To a by-stander, their actions would be pretty obvious by all the hand-holding and touching and secret kisses, but for a witch, there was no doubt in her mind that Stefan and Elena had spent last night using their bodies to say I love you.

Bonnie loved her friends, but sometimes, they were just a little gross.

She took a sip of coffee, swishing it around to take the chalk taste out of her mouth. The feeling was growing stronger as they approached her room. A second later, there was a knock on her door.

"It's open." She called. Unquestionably, Stefan and Elena entered the room, their hands in knots. They stared around, a little shocked. Bonnie followed their eyes. At some point she and Matt had shoved the bed up against the wall and stacked all the furniture up and off the floor to give the books and papers more space. Coffee cups and plates littered the floor. "Sorry. I guess I just got carried away."

"So you didn't sleep last night?" Elena asked, gingerly stepping over stacks.

"Nope." Bonnie sighed. "I never sleep well before an exam anyway."

"You found something?" Stefan asked. "Something you want to test out?"

"Sort of." Bonnie shrugged. She wanted to add it had been a combined effort with Matt, but she let it slide. "I know that Dr. Maxwell Simmons was a pretty twisted dude."

"He certainly wasn't known for his humanitarian efforts," Stefan muttered. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, here." Bonnie handed him the packet of notes and took a sip from her water bottle. Her mouth had gotten very dry. "He met Klaus during the Nuremberg Trials. Simmons was going to be executed for his crimes against humanity, but Klaus had been keeping an eye on him. He was especially interested in his theory on reincarnation. He smuggled him out of the country one night in 1946 and I lost track of him there. But from what I could gather, it wasn't Simmons' science that was the problem. He kept talking about _iskru zhizni_, a spark of life."

"Let me guess. He didn't know about vampire blood." Stefan muttered flipping through the papers.

"Yeah— yeah— exactly." Bonnie's mouth had become parched with the taste of sweet chalk. She felt embarrassed to look them in the eyes. She didn't understand it completely, this feeling. They were standing in front of her, no mounting sexual tension anywhere. So why was it building into a white storm? Why—

The door opened again and in strode Damon Salvatore. "So how 'bout that world that needs saving? I say we get on that." He grinned and clapped his hands together.

Following after him, came Caroline. She carried a tray of warm mugs. "Hey guys. Hot chocolate for the doppelganger and witch. Straight up black coffee for us fangy folk."

She handed out each cup to her friends. Bonnie watched in confused awe. Finally Caroline returned to Damon. Without saying a word, she handed him the cup. Their fingers brushed and the cup went clattering to the floor. It shattered on impact. Damon and Caroline stared at each other far too intensely for a single second, and then Caroline frowned and rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, Damon, butterfingers much?" She bent down to start collecting the cup pieces. But then they shook. The spilled liquid shimmered and suddenly, the pieces and the coffee rushed from Caroline's hand. They reconstructed themselves into a nice hot cup of coffee on the tray. Bonnie lowered her hand.

"Wow, Bonnie," Caroline began, "that was—,"

Bonnie pushed passed her, nearly running for the exit. "Excuse me— I have to— have to— wash my mouth out."

* * *

><p>Caroline stared after her friend, then her eyes darted to Damon. He was already watching her. <em>Oh my God, she knows<em>. He shook his head slightly as if he could read her mind through her fearful eyes.

"Mental break down right before the end of the world?" Damon began in his haughty way, but the humor didn't reach his eyes. "That's not a good sign."

Elena rolled her eyes. She went over to look at more of Bonnie's notes. "She's not crazy, just tired."

"Did she find anything else?"

Elena sighed and began riffling through papers. "He found the spark. Vampire blood. Well, hybrid blood."

"What's _in _that stuff?" Damon said, exasperated. "It's like magic crack or something!"

"It's enough to regenerate dead flesh under the right circumstances." Bonnie said from the doorway. She had returned. She glanced momentarily at Caroline before entering the room completely. She motioned towards the microscope in the corner. "I've been trying to recreate what his formula might have been. Obviously, I haven't been successful. I need more information."

"Unfortunately I don't think Klaus is into sharing." Damon scowled.

"We don't need him. We need Simmons."

"Bonnie, we have absolutely no way of finding him." Elena said. "He could be anywhere."

The witch shook her head fervently. "I don't think so. Well, he might be long gone, or dead, but I know that virus doesn't survive long without incubation. And to place it somewhere so it can infect living things, like in a water supply or in crops—,"

"It needs to be somewhere close by." Stefan said, catching on.

"Exactly." Bonnie nodded. "I'm thinking the base operations for creating the virus is in Mystic Falls."

"Oh goodie," Damon smirked. "That narrows down the searching pattern to, oh I don't know, _an entire town_. What's the plan of action, just start kicking down doors? _Hello, we're here to save the world. Got any super contagious, super deadly bacteria growing in your basement? No? Okay, well, bye and good luck not dying!_"

"That attitude isn't helping, Damon." Elena muttered.

"Come on," he snapped. "She's no more closer to finding answers than we are to finding Klaus!"

"Just stop, okay?" She looked at him, her dark eyes sad and perhaps a little guilty. "Just stop."

Immediately, his anger deflated. Those thick lashes dropped down to the floor. "I'm sorry, Elena."

Across the room, Caroline's heart constricted. A terrible, horrible, disgusting thought crossed her mind. Her friends continued talking, but she didn't hear a word of it. Her hands were cold and clammy. She could barely stand on her shuddering knees. She felt the world spin beneath her feet. She wanted to run but couldn't move. She wanted to scream but couldn't speak. Her throat was dry, too dry to create tears. But she wanted to cry. She wanted to punch and kick and slap him right across his beautiful face. _A devil can look just as well as an angel. _

_But he slept with me last night. With me. Not her. He wanted me. He kissed me_.

The voice came back, screaming in her ears. The voice of doubt, the voice of illogical reason, the voice that wanted nothing more than to make her hurt. It spoke to her in a shout and in a whisper. A caustic whisper that made her want to scratch off her own ears.

_How do you know he wasn't thinking of her?_

* * *

><p><em>*AN Sorry everybody it's a day late on the updates but my city is having a MASSIVE music/film/technology festival and I've been out trying to prove that I'm not such the Social Awkward Penguin of my group of friends. But here it is! Reviews are mucho awesomeo! _


	10. Chapter 10: Wildfire

**Chapter 10: Wildfire**

_Bonnie had said she needed each of them, life to offer, to remind Earth what life tasted like. It wouldn't hurt, she said. Just stay still and don't fight it._

* * *

><p>While Caroline's world crumbled around her, the others had decided to begin to search for a possible source of the disease. Stefan had suggested to start checking farms. Bonnie shook her head: the disease had to be fast traveling and growing in food would take longer than it had. She suggested a water supply or air conditioning. Stefan mentioned a plantation on the outskirts of town, one of the few that still had access to the main water supply for Mystic Falls. Most others had switched over to the grid created by the government, but as one of Mystic Falls oldest plantations, the city counsel had decided to keep it. It was relatively secluded and unknown, a perfect hideout to start biological warfare.<p>

"It's been here since 1864 and every time I come back, it's still standing." Stefan said. "I think that's our best bet."

Bonnie nodded. "Let's go." She reached down and grabbed her Grimoire and led the way out of the room. Caroline stood still. Her mind hadn't caught up yet. She could still feel her knees wobbling. Suddenly, those bright blue eyes suddenly jarred her staring.

"Hey, come on. We caught a break. Let's go." When she didn't move, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Caroline, come on—,"

She grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him away from her. "Don't touch me." She hissed.

"Damn, Caroline, what's your problem?" His eyes grew dark with anger.

"Like you care." She spat. She shoved past him and out the door.

_How could I be so stupid? Like Damon Salvatore would give a crap about anyone but Elena Freakin' Gilbert! Of course he loved it last night— finally got to indulge in his twisted little fantasies. You were so stupid to think he cared— so stupid to think that he— wanted— had some sort of feelings— like he wanted anyone but _her_—_

Caroline stopped in the middle of the hallway, a shudder running through her body. She felt like she should cry. But she had already shed enough tears over Damon Salvatore. Did she really expect anything different? Becoming a vampire didn't mean anything; he still was using her. She sighed, righting her shoulders. No, this isn't how the new Caroline operated. She didn't cry over boys. She didn't let jealousy overcome her.

She continued on through the hallway, to go find her friends to help. She wasn't going to let this hurt her—

She passed by a vase and without her control, her fist lashed out and smashed the vase into pieces. It didn't stop there. Her fist pierced the wood behind it. She felt blood running down her knuckles, bits of wood stuck in her fingers. She liked the pain. It cleared her head. Her mind was finally free of Damon Salvatore. She stared at the blank wood, her breath ragged.

She shuddered and pulled her fist free. She stared at the pieces on the ground. She shoved over the stand on which the vase previously sat. The marble shattered. She shuddered again and walked off.

* * *

><p>It was getting dark when they left the house. Alaric, Jeremy and Tyler had been in left in charge of keeping the perimeter safe. The mayor and Ms Forbes were supposed to keep inside, away from the windows. Hopefully, the group would be back tonight.<p>

"You know the drill, Jer," Elena said firmly to her little brother as everyone else geared up for the night. "Anything, _anything_, starts to go wrong, you take everyone into the basement and break the vial—,"

"Which will then signal to Bonnie that we're in trouble and the cavalry will come a-running." He said with a small smile. "I know, Elena. We're going to be just fine."

"Hopefully when we come back, we'll be more than fine." Bonnie said. Her hair was pulled back and she smelled of fresh peppermint and soil. "Hopefully, we'll have some answers."

Caroline could help but imagine if Mother Earth smelled something similar to that.

"So let me get this straight," Alaric began, carefully watching Damon handle his crossbow. "You're going off to find the place that you believe was the epicenter of the disease, the place where Klaus first inserted the disease into the water supply."

Bonnie nodded.

"And just what are you hoping to find there?"

"Ideally, dead things." Bonnie said with a sigh. She placed her Grimoire in her satchel and a few extra herbs. "Studying a living sample would do wonders for my research."

"And you guys can't run into town and grab one of the many dead corpses there?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Simmons used magic and vampire blood to first create this virus. But magic is connected. Imagine a huge oak tree and all of its roots. The further away from the tree, the weaker the roots are. Those dead bodies are just that, dead bodies. If we can find the big granddaddy oak tree, the very source of the magic—,"

"Then when we cut it down, the magic is gone?" Jeremy half-asked, half-said with conviction.

Bonnie nodded with a small smile. "Magic is the only think keeping these monsters alive. We cut off their supply and they're just dead."

Alaric sighed and looked around at the small crowd. "It's never a slow Friday night with you guys, is it?"

"Cheer up, Ric," Damon grinned. "If all goes according to plan, we'll be back in time for me to kick your ass in the Dungeons of Tamriel."

* * *

><p>The moon was high and bright as they weaved in an out of trees, a silent pack of avengers. Caroline led the troop with Stefan and Damon flanking her from behind. Elena and Bonnie walked within the triangle. Caroline was listening fiercely. Thirty minutes before they had set out, she consciously cleared her mind of everything. Of her emotions, of her worry, of her fear. She swept out images of her mother, of her father, of the corpses with bloody hands and gnarled mouths. She swept out Damon. How he made her feel. Of last night's shameful behavior. Of how glad she was that he was on their team, dealing damage like a bat out of hell. Of how safe she felt nearby him. Of how happy she was wrapped up in his arms—<p>

No. Focus.

The bag of human blood she had drunk before they left had helped tremendously. Her eyes were clear, open. She smelled everything— the woods, the lake, the smell of animal fur. However, the strongest smell was Bonnie. In fact, all of her senses were slightly jarred by Bonnie's radiating power. She was like a furnace of strength that electrified not only the touch, but sight and sound and smell. Caroline wondered if Damon and Stefan could feel it too. With an inward shudder, Caroline was very, very glad the witch was on their side.

The woods were oddly quiet as they walked. But it wasn't an absence of humans that set Caroline's teeth on edge. There were no animals. No hooting owls. No scampering deer. No mice on the earthen floor.

"I think we're close." She whispered, as much to herself as to the rest of her friends.

"Not much further." Stefan muttered.

"I can feel it. The earth is in pain," said Bonnie from behind her.

And the smell hit their noses. You didn't need vampire's senses to get a whiff of the rot. It wasn't rotting flesh, thankfully, but the vegetables, the fruit, the land itself was dead. As they moved forward, the trees sagged, wilted like sickly flowers, and gave way to a cemetery of food. Far to the left a crooked barn stood in shadow, broken and barely supporting itself. Behind the sagging barn, rows and rows of brown corn plants stood like burned and speared corpses, their leaves like charred flesh. The fields continued out as far as the eye could see. This included a vampire's sense of sight. Caroline readjusted the collar to her jacket, flicking it up against the wind. _If someone screamed, no one would hear them. _She wondered if this was how it felt to stand on the edge of the world.

They walked, rotten leaves crunching under their feet. An abandoned truck stood off near the edge of the woods. Garden tools scattered the lawn. A dark home was covered by the shadow of the oaks, the front door swinging helplessly on its hinges. There was no blood, no bodies, no gore. This farm died in silence and without a fight.

"There," Bonnie said, pointing. "There's the well. The source."

Over the ridge, and in the shadow of the house, on the crisp edge of the dead fields, there was a small well. The ground around it was clear of grass and water. The stone was green.

Without touching the wall, Caroline looked inside. For all it was worth, it could have been the mouth of hell.

"So what do we do?" Elena asked.

Bonnie was watching the moon. "Set up the spell. Get ready. It's near midnight." Then she turned and looked at them all. There was something by the glint of moonlight in her eye that said something wasn't right. She needed to say something but it wasn't the right time, didn't need to be heard, so she swallowed it. "Hurry."

Caroline stood at one of the corners of the pentagram, a white candle clasped in her hands. From across the well, she faced Elena, Stefan and Damon. On the final point stood Bonnie, her hands out-stretched over the well. She was chanting something low and fast.

Bonnie had said she needed each of them, life to offer, to remind Earth what life tasted like. It wouldn't hurt, she said. Just stay still and don't fight it. Caroline watched Elena's worried face from across the circle. Stefan was itching to comfort her, to hold her, but he stood still, the light from the candle flickering in his eyes. Damon— well, she didn't even care about him right now.

Bonnie drew her hands along ridges of well. She wiped her face full of the moss, of the disease. Then she turned and took a white candle from her bag. In her hands, she whispered to it in nature's secret language. And then with a single breath, the wick burst into flame. With one more word of protection, Bonnie dropped the candle into well.

And Caroline felt it. She felt the pull of the Earth, of nature. It needed life and it was going to take it by force. Through whatever means necessary. Caroline felt the ground move and shift. She felt teeth, waking and moving for the first time. She felt it catch the scent of blood. The earth was hungry and wanted to swallow her whole.

But for Bonnie, the Earth wasn't cooperating.

"Come on, you son of a bitch," she growled between ancient phrases. "I'm doing you a favor. Listen to me." Her nails dug into the stone wall. The Grimoire shuddered and the pages ruffled in the windless air. Bonnie shook her head, her eyes closed tight. "No, let me in. Let me look. I know what I'm trying to find. Heal. Take them. Use them. I'm helping."

Caroline gasped, her knees suddenly weak. She heard Elena cry out too. The pull was stronger now. The spirits were forcing Earth to drink, bending them closer to the ground. Suddenly, the salt circle surrounding them bubbled into a green flame. Caroline yanked her heels out of the way. Stefan gave Damon a worried glance.

Bonnie suddenly coughed, blood flying from her mouth, but a firm hand brushed the blood away. "Stop it! I know what I'm doing. Fine! Then get out of the way!"

The witch climbed up onto edge of the well, her legs straddling either side of the stone, her eyes a dark green once again. The Grimoire was lying useless on ground.

And she spoke in a language that sounded like the wind of a hurricane, the sharp bite of a cold blizzard. Her hands began to glow and with a furious snap of her wrist, she commanded the Earth to listen.

A blast of fire erupted out of the well, like a dragon breathing a cannon fire. Bonnie's figure was consumed in the flames.

"Bonnie!" Elena screamed. She reached forward, but Stefan shook his head.

"Don't move! She needs us!" He cried.

"But she's burning alive!"

He shook his head again and pointed. The flames were flickering. The roaring died down. But just as they caught glimpses of the figure within, the fire burned white and shot into the sky again. They contracted and expanded like a breath, like organ gasping to make music. The flames faded and a dark body hovered above the well. She opened her arms, her dark hair spilling down her back like blood. Something slick and smooth spiraled up from the well, like a black serpent. It took Caroline only a moment to realize it was water, moving as though called. It snaked up the witch's ankle, wrapping itself around her until it engulfed her like a glass bubble.

"What's happening?" Elena asked.

"She's trying to fix it." Damon muttered. "Fix all that Klaus has destroyed."

When Caroline believed Bonnie would actually find something, it happened. When Caroline saw a light for humanity spill out from this one girl, the smell appeared. She nearly dropped the candle as she spun around to look, to peer into the darkness to find them before it was too late. Out from the crevices in the woods, they came, more real, more terrifying than before because they were set apart from the world here. Here, nobody could hear them scream.

The stench was unbearable. They came as walking shadows, as moveable dead flesh. Their groans were loud against the scream of night. They were drawn here by the fire. They were drawn by the break in the magics. Their time was numbered.

Caroline turned to step away, to fight, to defend. She knew it was a herd of the dead, perhaps it was the entire town. She didn't know how long they could last, against an army of five hundred. But she had to try. Bonnie needed more time.

But when she tried to pull away, she realized she couldn't. Her feet were glued to the point of the pentagram. She looked across the well and saw the others were stuck as well, pure terror written on their faces.

"She has to let us go!" Elena said, her voice tight with horror.

"It's not her! Earth is trying to regain its life force!" Stefan said, but he still pulled against the invisible bonds.

"Well, damn, couldn't She be a little less greedy!" Damon scowled.

They were closer now. The smell was stronger, their groans louder.

"Come on!" Caroline snapped. She twisted and jerked, but her feet were firmly put on the ground. "If we don't start taking them on now, then we have no chance!"

"Drop the candle!" Stefan said. "Maybe that will sever the connection."

Caroline released her grip on the white candle— and gasped when it floated in midair. She jerked, but she stayed in place.

"Bonnie!" Elena screamed. "If you can hear me, make it let us go! We're going to die unless we can fight! BONNIE!"

But she seemed unaware of the outside world, of her friend's imminent danger. She continued to slowly revolve in the case of water.

"BONNIE!"

_Come on, girl! _Caroline thought silently, as she watch the ground become dark with shuffling figures. _Let us go!_

The witch's eyes flickered open, an unearthly glow about them. Suddenly, Caroline fell, tumbling to the ground. She was free. She glanced across the circle, passed the hovering candles, to her friends. Stefan was pulling Elena to her feet, whispering something anxiously in her ear. But she was only vaguely of their actions. Her eyes were locked with Damon's. The candle's light made them glow fervently. He was desperately trying to say something, anything, to Caroline. She frowned, unable to understand. He looked away, his expression pained— then, in a flashed he was gone. A wall of the Diseased exploded; Damon was out to destroy. Stefan kissed Elena's forehead and she nodded. She leaned against the well and he was gone too, joining his brother in culling the herd. Elena looked over at her friend, her eyes bright with tears. "Go." She mouthed.

Caroline bolted. The world went silence for just a moment as she crossed the field between the well and the undead. Wind whistled as it passed by her ears and then, she crossed by a straggler, one who was faster than the others. She swooped down and smashed his head clean off. She went for another one, and it dropped to her feet. She continued, breaking through the line, swinging and fighting. Clean and even, like he said. Don't wait. Don't hesitate. Punch and be done. Move on.

Soon Caroline lost track. Blood and guts covered her arms to her elbows, like sickening gloves. She felt dead blood around her neck, up in her hair. And she remembered these were once people. The grocer, maybe, the guy at the bank. She dropped each and every one of them without a blink.

With a sharp backhand, Caroline paused. She was surrounded, by both corpses immobilized and corpses still churning with stolen life. They watched her with blank, yellow eyes, flesh and guts hanging from their mouths and hands. Then they moved forward towards her. Caroline looked over the field, to the well. Elena was still pressed up against the stone, trying to make herself as small as possible and Bonnie, still absorbed by earth and water, continued to spin. The noises of carnage only tipped her briefly to where the Salvatore brothers were.

"ANGH!" One tumbled toward her and Caroline spun and punched it through the back of its head. More followed and with speed they couldn't dream of, she took them down. And then the panic set in.

Caroline kept spinning, kept kicking and punching and ripping but it wasn't enough. The second she landed, more came out of the darkness. She had moved toward the edge of the trees, far away from the well. She could only see the light of the candles now. The Salvatores were nowhere insight. She didn't like being out alone.

Caroline bolted again, punching when she felt she had a clear shot. She shot through the crowd, moving over those already dead and out of the way of grimy fingers of those risen. She mounted the hill and gasped. The Diseased had taken no interested in the other vampires, only in the Doppleganger. She was fending them off with a large branch. She was doing well, stabbing them through the eyes but it would only do so much. Caroline darted up the hill, yanking down bodies to try and end the flow. She popped the heads off of two and joined a space next to her friend.

"Oh my God! Thank you!" Elena said. She sounded near tears.

"Don't mention it!" Caroline grabbed the bodies at their feet and threw them into the advancing crowd. Several stumbled but many more kept coming.

"Where the hell are Stefan and Damon?" Elena screamed. The two girls circled around at opposite ends of well, Caroline using fists and feet and Elena wielding the stick like a staff.

"I don't know, but I think that's the least of our worries." Caroline looked out across at the fields. There was simply no end to the wave of these creatures. _We can't keep fighting forever. _

"Caroline," Elena muttered behind her. "If this is the end, then I just wanted to say thank you."

Caroline's head was pounding. "What are you talking about? This isn't—,"

"If I die, I want you to know that you were my best friend." Elena speared the head off of one and roundhouse kicked another to the ground, stabbing it next. "You made life enjoyable. You deserve Matt, more than I ever did. I'm so happy for you guys."

Caroline felt the sting of tears. "Elena, look, if this is it, there's something you need to know."

"What?"

"Damon and I—,"

Suddenly, Caroline lost her balance. She slipped on blood and she fell. As if this was a cue, the creatures roared and focused on her. Their senses told them she was weak. They swarmed, to the point where she couldn't fight them off.

Their yellow eyes were the last things she would ever see in this world. She shivered only a little as their greasy, clammy hands wrapped themselves around her arms and legs, broken teeth open as their torn mouths reached for her flesh.

Somewhere, far off in the distance, someone screamed. A piercing scream.

That helped. That cleared her head.

_You're a vampire. Start acting like it. _

Caroline yanked her arms free. With several sharp kicks, she threw them back on by one. But a single creature grabbed her from behind, his rotten breath blow stacks into her ears. Suddenly, the creature was gone and someone else's hands grabbed her now. Damon's startling blue eyes were searching her face.

"What! What happened! Are you bitten? Where! Let me see!" His hands ran frantically over her body looking for an open wound.

Her head groggy, Caroline pulled away. "No, no, I'm not bitten."

"Then why did you scream?"

"I didn't scream, Damon, what are you talking about?"

Above them, the glass case holding Bonnie suddenly shattered, and she screamed. She screamed like hell itself was burning her. The Diseased shuddered and stopped their moving, their dumb hands grasping at their ears as if the sound caused them pain. Her eyes wide and completely green, the witch continued to scream and from her hands, water pooled out like a curious weasel. It ran down the sides of well, sneaking past the creatures and covering both Damon and Caroline. It blocked out their view of the creatures. They watched the spell cover them, then their eyes fell on each other. He smelled of rotten flesh and blood but she didn't care. She had no idea of what was to come, but somehow, having him here, having him worry even slightly about her, if this was it— she could think of worse ways to go.

She grabbed his hands, squeezing them tightly as the liquid encased them. Everything got brighter, then their vision was nothing but pure white—

—and they were back in the Salvatore House. Caroline tentatively opened one eye and breathed a sigh of relief. They stood in the middle of the living room. She pulled away from Damon, unable to meet his eyes. It didn't really matter. He was looking behind her anyways.

"Holy crap, Bonnie," Caroline began and laughed weakly. "That was the freakiest witch ju-ju that I ever—,"

"No." Bonnie said behind her. She sounded in pain. Caroline whipped around and saw the witch looking to her right, tears cascading down her face, her jaw dropped in shock.

Caroline felt like she had entered a dream-like state. Everything moved at a half-speed. From her side, Damon screamed something, something sharp and painful. He screamed it again, tears rolling down his face. Slipping and sliding, he slowly climbed to his feet, struggling against time and fate, to get across the room. Caroline watched him go and then her eyes fell upon a most heinous sight. Stefan cradled Elena in his arms, her skin ashen and wet. Bonnie had fallen to her knees, taking her friend's head in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Damon had grabbed her by the shoulders and was shaking her, screaming her name.

_Why are they all scared? _Caroline thought as she watched them curiously. _She's just sleeping._

And then, as Damon shook her, her body flopping uselessly, something bright caught her eye. It was blood, freshly spilled blood on her forearm. Well, what was left of her forearm. Now, it was flesh from bone, blood from tissue. Something, one of the creatures, had taken a massive bite from her arm.

She was hemorrhaging blood, fading out on the Salvatores' carpet.

The grandfather clock was ticking in the hallway, the sound like a cacophony of racket. Caroline watched the seconds slam by, each one heavier than a heartbeat. Then she looked at Elena.

_If the blood loss doesn't kill her, the bite will. _

Caroline watched the clock again as Alaric and Jeremy swarmed into the room, their motions slow and aggravated. They descended upon her, upon Damon still screaming, still shaking her, still crying. Upon Stefan trying to hold her, trying to patch her up with just his hands, trying to fix her like you would a cloth doll. Trying to keep all the stuffing in.

Upon Bonnie stroking her hair, whispering something furiously to herself, to Elena, to the spirits begging to keep her.

Caroline watched the clock and thought of each passing second as one more heartbeat she will never have. As another moment closer to death.

Elena Gilbert had five days to live before she joined the soulless undead.

* * *

><p><em>*AN Elena's bitten. Yeah. Like dying. You think that might put a small strain on the blossoming Daroline? You bet your sweet, fanfic-in' ass it will! I'll update with another chapter later tonight, but I'm going to the Hunger Games release at midnight, and the chapter isn't completely perfect yet! But no fear, more the second chapter is to come!_

_Also yay, WarriorPrincess!Elena! _


	11. Chapter 11: Heart of Glass

**Chapter 9: Heart of Glass, Heart of Stone**

_"Elena's my friend too— my best friend— and I can't be left alone right now."_

* * *

><p>This is not a story about love. Or happiness, or out-winning the odds. This is the story of grief— overwhelming grief, of constricting grief. Grief so strong it makes you want to heave, to pull out all the bad things, all the dirty bits of memory and action— yank them out by your tongue. This would cause you unimaginable agony. The only outcome to this pain is death, but right now, under the pressure of grief— death seems a kinder alternative. At least then, you'd feel something. You'd feel the blood, feel your jaw disconnect, feel— like you were in a body. Grounded, tied. Not floating around in the ether, unable to help, unable to move, unable— to be able.<p>

At least with grief, you knew where you stood. You wouldn't be waiting, floating, loose, empty—

fearing.

Fearing the moment when he steps out of that door and says, "she's gone".

* * *

><p>The clock ticked.<p>

The fire crackled.

They waited in a haunted silence.

Stefan and Bonnie had taken Elena into the downstairs guestroom to see what could be done. Alaric had joined them later, a medical kit in his shaking hands. This was over an hour ago.

Caroline knew there was something to be done. She could be doing something, but she didn't know what. There was tea to be made, or hands to hold, or comforting words to be said—

—funeral arrangements to be made.

_No, damn it!_

Caroline wiped away the thought with a furious swipe of her hand against her tear-stained cheek. _She's going to be fine! Elena won't die! She can't! We'll cure her! Bonnie will find something— Alaric will find something. Stefan won't let her die. I won't let her die._ She stood up and began pacing in front of the fireplace. Her muffled steps were the only sounds in the darkened room.

"Can you stop doing that?" Jeremy asked from the couch.

Jeremy!

"Sorry!" Caroline shook her head. She swooped down next to him. "Look, what can I do, Jeremy? Can I get you anything? Something to eat? A drink? A bottle of brandy?"

"You can't do anything." He replied monotone. "No one can do anything." His glassy eyes turned towards Caroline. They were brown, soft, innocent, hurt by a world they couldn't prepare for. She had seen that look come from Elena, on the day of her parents' funeral, at Jenna's funeral. They weren't blood related, Caroline knew that, but Jeremy would always be Elena's little brother. The kid who wanted to play all sports but didn't have enough time in the day. The little kid that would plant whoopee cushions under seats for someone to find. The little kid who ran into their sleepovers with a water gun, spraying them and cackling while doing it. The little, little boy who wanted his toes painted because his big sissy had her nails painted. He was her little brother, blood related or otherwise.

And every little brother needs a big sister.

"We will fix her, Jeremy, okay?" Caroline said through the thick knock in her throat. She shook away the image of his small, lopsided grin peaking out at her from under a mop of unruly hair. Bonnie could see the man through those dark eyes. Why couldn't she? She took his hand and kissed one of his knuckles. He just stared at her through blank eyes. She swallowed the tears again. "She's going to be okay."

"You can't know that." He wasn't looking at her.

"Yes, yes, I can, Jeremy." Caroline spoke rapidly, encouraged by her own words. "There hasn't been anything that we've faced that we can't beat. This is just another monster, Jer. Another monster that can die. That will. We will save Elena."

"A monster we can't even see?" Jeremy asked. "How can we fight something we can't see?" From the chair hidden in the shadows of the fireplace, the dark shape shifted. "We can't bring weapons to fight it. We can't break it. We can't rip its heart out. We don't even know if vampire blood works."

Caroline's heart tightened. "They'll be back soon, with some news. I know that, for sure."

"Yeah, with some news." Jeremy looked behind him at the empty hallway. "At least, we'll know something."

There was that smile, bright and shining, full of life, those doe-eyes that looked remarkably like his sister's, gazing up at her, clear in her memory, laughing as he was tickled mercilessly by his family—

"We will save her, Jeremy." Caroline sat down next to him and pulled him into a one-armed hug. "You won't be alone."

The guestroom door opened and only three figures emerged. Jeremy pulled away from the hug and leapt to his feet. Caroline, with the mold by which she held herself up suddenly gone, crumpled into the couch, her knees up by her chin. The dark shape in the chair was eerily motionless.

The silence was worse now. Now, it was jarring and disgusting. Before, it lay empty and unwanted, like an open canoe left a drift at sea. Silence sat before them all as Caroline glanced from Alaric's fearful eyes, to Bonnie's exhausted and sorrowful ones, and then to Stefan's face. His was most disturbing. Caroline couldn't read anything from it.

Silence sat before them now, wide and loud like a cacophony of noise and agony. It lay before them like a gutted piano. It was painful to hear and painful to witness. _This is the real monster_, Caroline thought, _this is the torture Klaus wanted us to fear_. _We didn't listen_.

Alaric could feel it to. It prompted him to speak. "She's alive."

"And?"

"She's not getting better." Stefan said. His voice sounded like an echo.

"What does that mean?"

"She rejected vampire blood. There were no obvious changes in her fever, color or breathing after taking the blood." Bonnie rattled off, the scientific side taking over. "We stopped the bleeding on her forearm but we couldn't find anything to bring down her fever. It's just like the papers. I know her symptoms before they come."

"So what do we do?" asked Jeremy in a soft voice.

Bonnie's wet eyes flew to him. It was obvious she wanted to take him in her arms but knew it was not the time or place.

"There's a hospital not far from here." Alaric said. He had never been one to deal with grief in a hopeless sort of way— if there was a will, there was a way. "We could move her. She's stabilized, but we don't know for how long. At a hospital, a nurse could stitch her arm better. I've never had formal training." He admitted this guiltily.

"But it's not safe." Bonnie said, her eyes still wet. "We have no idea how wide spread the disease has gotten, if the hospital is still standing. And she's finally sleeping well. We don't know what moving her would do. The stitches could easily come out."

"Besides, they couldn't cure the disease." Jeremy said.

"No, Jeremy," said Alaric with remote finality. "They couldn't."

The dark shape in the chair moved again. It grew legs and step-forward. Damon's swollen eyes watched them all. "Who cares?" He said, his voice sharp. "We have to try, don't we?"

"We can't move her!" Jeremy whipped around. "You heard what Bonnie said!"

"So what do you suggest?" Damon snapped. "We just leave her to die?"

"We fix her here! Bonnie can do it!"

"I don't have as much faith in your witch-bitch as you do!" Damon hissed, his eyes glowing fiercely. "What can she really do? She didn't even know the disease was here until it was way too late. Everyone in Mystic falls is dead, because of her! Because she can't do anything to stop this thing!"

"Damon!" Alaric cried. "She's trying her best!"

"Well, where is it getting us!" Damon roared. "_What are we doing to save her? What are any of you doing?_"

"Stop, Damon." Stefan said from the corner. "Please, not right now—,"

"Why are we even discussing this?" He demanded of them. "If there's even a chance that she can get better, why are we just sitting on our hands?"

"You don't get to make those decisions for my sister!" Jeremy roared. He moved about the table to face Damon head on.

"Right, because you have such a stellar record of keeping family members alive."

Jeremy stared blankly for a moment. And then he took a swing. Damon easily dodged it, as if he was bored. Caroline stepped forward, ready to grab someone if the situation continued to digress.

"Don't talk to me about saving people!" Jeremy snarled, his fists raised and tears in his eyes. "You only want to save her to get in her pants! And I won't let you anywhere near her, you son of a bitch!"

The glint in Damon's eyes was all the signal Caroline needed to know that things were about to get very bad. She leapt forward and grabbed Jeremy, as if pulling him out of the way of a sixteen wheeler. He fought against her, but she wouldn't let go. She heard Alaric's voice and the sound of a struggle between the two.

"You don't get to talk to me about love! You have no idea what I've done for your sister!"

"Damon, calm down, he's just a kid—,"

"He wants to be an adult, he wants to be included, let's have it! Come on, Jeremy, prove it to me that you're not some wimpy, whiney little brat!"

"Let me go, Caroline!" Jeremy pushed against her, but she shoved him into the wall.

"No!" She hissed in his ear. "This isn't what she wanted!"

"Stop talking about her like she's dead already!"

The air suddenly tensed and Caroline felt a sharp shock snap her skin where she touched Jeremy. She leapt back, surprised. Jeremy's face said he had felt it too. Damon stopped shouting and stood a good distance apart from Alaric. Something had separated them all.

Bonnie stood in the center of the living room, tears streaming down her face. But her jaw was set in a mask of concentration. "You all need to stop." She said. "We are not moving Elena. We will take care of her. We will save her. But I need help. I learned a lot from the well. The trip was not in vain. If I can make something similar, I can make a cure. Klaus's plan will fail. Stefan's already agreed to help. Elena needs her friends to be with her, not fighting. She'd want us to work together."

She spoke with such confidence, nobody dared to disagree out loud.

The stunned silence of the room broke and Damon pushed back Alaric, heading for the guestroom. Stefan moved, as if to stop him, but Bonnie put up a hand. She shook her head.

"Let him be, Stefan. He's grieving."

"We all are." Jeremy scowled. He slipped away from Caroline and moved to go upstairs. "Doesn't give him an excuse to be a dick."

They watched him slip away, up the staircase. Caroline lingered in her gaze just a bit longer than anyone else, because she knew what turning around meant. It meant looking into the faces of those wrought by worry and fear. It would mean turning around to fight an impossible situation, one she wasn't entirely sure that could be overcome. The memory of Stefan's hollow eyes told her everything. But finally, with a sigh, Caroline turned, her mouth set into a straight.

"What can I do?" She asked Bonnie. The witch nodded mutely.

"I need help researching. There's something about viruses in the witches journals. Maybe there's a way to reverse the magics, because it upsets the balance of nature. We should go get Tyler and Matt—," Bonnie suddenly cut off, her hand flying to her mouth. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks. "Oh my God, Matt, he doesn't know. He doesn't know about Elena."

"None of them do," said Alaric. "Look, I'll go tell everyone. I also have some journals of ex-hunters, they might help."

Bonnie could only nod, before backing up and nearly sprinting off to her room. Alaric shook his head, gave Stefan a look of condolence, then turned and went off into the dark as well. Only Caroline and Stefan were left.

"Stefan," Caroline said hesitantly. She slowly walked toward him. He was staring at the floor. "If there's anything— _anything_— you need, please, please come to me. A hug, a shoulder, an entire wine cooler— I am completely here for you. Stefan, please, look at me." She touched his shoulder and he jerked, as if coming out of a trance. She put a hand to his face. "Whatever you're going through right now, whatever you're feeling, I promise you, you won't do it alone. I will be here, right next to you the entire time. You have me."

In one swift movement, he grabbed her, pulling her close like an object of comfort. "I don't deserve a friend like you," he said into her hair. "You can't help me and grieve."

Something in Caroline's throat caught and her eyes began to burn. "I'm not doing this entirely for you, you big shmuck." She gave a watery laugh. She sniffed as the tears poured freely down her face. "Elena's my friend too— my best friend— and I can't be left alone right now."

Her nails dug into his back as they pulled each other tighter together. They stood together like that, like a single stone column for a while. For just a moment, they were immobilized, frozen, and locked away from a place that by your very existence, aimed to do you unspeakable harm.

* * *

><p>Stefan and Caroline had broken apart when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. A brief glance between the pair made it clear neither of them wanted to talk to anyone right now. With a quick burst, they bolted. Caroline hid in the second hallway over and listened.<p>

"So you're sure the bite is fatal?" Mayor Lockwood asked.

"We haven't seen any survivors and that's what Bonnie said when she first received the visions." Alaric's deep voice responded.

"And that's how these things were created? Through bites?"

"We think so."

"And you have no idea of how to cure her?" Caroline was shocked to hear Tyler, true fear in his voice.

"Bonnie and Stefan are working on it now. Jeremy, he disappeared. We figured it was best if we just left him alone for a while."

There was an inaudible collective agreement. And then came the words that would haunt Caroline for the rest of her life.

"How long does she have?" Matt asked.

"We . . . don't know."

Caroline sniffed and cleared off her face. Then she went to see her mother.

* * *

><p>Knock. Knock.<p>

Liz Forbes opened the door, looking worried.

"Oh, Caroline, I was just getting dressed to come down stairs. Alaric told me what happened with Elena! Is there anything—,"

Caroline stumbled forward, dragging her mother into a hug. But for some reason, she couldn't cry. She just needed to be held, to be told it was going to be alright. She couldn't lie again that night. Not to anyone. Not Jeremy. Not Stefan. And now, with Matt's voice ringing in her ears, she couldn't lie to herself anymore.

"We don't know how much time she has." Caroline said, echoing the sad voice in her head. "But I can't be down there right now. I can't look at her."

Liz stepped back and closed the door, shielding her daughter from the outer world. "Of course you can't. You don't have to. Just come be with me."

She led her daughter to the bed. Caroline still held onto her, wide-eyed.

"Tell me what I can do, sweetie." Her mother crooned. "How can I help?"

"Bonnie always needs help, researching. You can start there."

"I meant with you, honey. How can I make you feel better."

Caroline's mouth opened and closed, her lips suddenly parched. "You shouldn't help me. I don't deserve anything."

"Sweetie, that's the survivor's guilt talking. You need something."

Caroline blinked, trying to remember something but her mind seemed to be purposefully blank. "Guilt . . . guilty . . . survive . . . I am guilty."

Suddenly there was a loud thump above them and a muffled roar.

"What's Damon up to now?" Liz asked of no one in particular. Caroline became very still and then leaned away to look her mother in the eyes.

"Your room is directly below Damon's?"

"Yes. The boys thought it better if we were all kept relatively close quarters." Her mother frowned. "Why? Is something wrong? Wait, Caroline, where are you going?"

Her hand felt slippery on the handle. "I have to go— check on something."

* * *

><p>She wrapped on his door, fast and hard. The sounds within only continued. She heard him angrily muttering as he moved about his room, clearly doing something. The thought of all the things that could occur flickered through her mind before she burst through the door. He didn't even look up as she entered.<p>

"Gotta be here somewhere . . ." he muttered. He still hadn't cleaned up from his night with Caroline. Books were still everywhere, the bed in shambles. The widespread mess made his search for whatever it was no easier. "Where are you, you damned thing?"

"What are you looking for?" She asked hesitantly.

"Past something . . . something past . . ." He chucked the end table over his shoulder.

"Damon, are you alright?"

Finally, he looked up, staring intently. "You are not her." He said simply.

"I'm not who?"

"The one I'm looking for."

Caroline's heart tightened. "What do you mean?"

Damon swiveled his bright eyes to her. And then he was suddenly angry. "_Where is she_!"

"Who Damon!"

Suddenly he was in her face, his hands gripping her shoulders, pressing her to a wall. "WHERE IS SHE?" He roared.

"You don't get to do that anymore!" She grabbed his hand and with astonishing speed— even for a vampire— she caught him off guard and with a twist, she broke his hand. He gasped and stumbled back. He stood, shaking and staring at his hand.

"Now," Caroline said firmly. "What the hell are you talking about?"

His whole demeanor changed. With his free hand, he popped the bone back into place without so much as a grunt. Where he had been wild and animalistic before, he was now cold and completely removed. Carefully, he sauntered over to a nearly empty bottle near the wall and took a massive swig out of it.

"Sorry," he said. "Been mixing drinks for a while now and that last one was a bit of a doozy. I'm better now."

"No, you're not. Who is _she_?"

"Oh, I thought that was always clear." He turned around to face her. This was the scariest Caroline had ever seen him. She much preferred throat-ripping-out Damon to this— façade of serenity. "She is Elena. And now she's going to die."

She had to lie one more time tonight. "No, we will save her."

"Hey, maybe this is how our story begins." Damon said sweetly. "I'm dead. She'll be dead. And she always said, over her _dead_ body. Maybe I'll get a poke now, eh?"

"Oh, my God, Damon, that's disgusting." Caroline failed to mention the sudden sharp twinge in her heart.

"But I'm preaching to the choir, right? You want nothing more than to be dead."

Caroline swallowed. She had never been more scared. "I am dead, already. You saw to that."

His eyes glinted maliciously. "I did, didn't I? But I'm talking about never-wake-up dead. Shuffle off the mortal, or in our case, immortal coil and all that . . ."

"No, Damon, I don't want that."

"Pity."

Caroline was sure her non-beating heart skipped a beat. "Why?"

"So you can finally stop getting in the way of Elena and I."

"I was never stopping you." Caroline met his gaze with a fierce return.

"Oh, but you did." He stumbled over to her, grinning madly. He cupped her cheek in his hand. "Getting into my head, like you did— do. Messing with my heart— that really hurts. Making me think about something other than Elena. From day one, you've been nothing but a problem."

Caroline jerked away from his touch. His fingers crumpled as if they had nothing to support them.

"Well, it's not like you've been so great in my life either! You're the reason I'm dead!"

"Ah, yes, well. Unfortunately not forever."

"I had a life, Damon! And you took it!" Suddenly thoughts and feelings that had been dormant for over a year came rushing back to the surface of Caroline's memory. "I was going to be something in life!"

But he had turned away, returning to his bottle. "Not strong enough— not quick enough—couldn't save the human—couldn't save the girl—thought about, something—someone—something else . . ."

"I had a plan!" Caroline was near screaming now. "Be prom queen! Marry a guy in college! Get married! Have kids! Be happy!"

Damon stopped and looked over his shoulder. "That sounds like a wasted life, even for you." He sounded bored. He began pacing, not listening to a word she said. In that moment, she wanted to make him hurt, burn, wish the skin would pull away from his bone.

"ELENA DOESN'T LOVE YOU!" She shrieked. He stopped. His eyes were clear again.

"You ruined me!" She continued. Her body was shaking. Her head was spinning. She felt like she was going to faint. But she had to be heard. She needed to say this to him. After everything, she deserved this one truth. "Everything that's gone wrong in my life is because of you! Because you made me a MONSTER! I was happy!"

And then Damon Salvatore's eyes grew very dark, so dark Caroline could no longer see the blue inside. Instead, she stared at the face of a demon.

"No, you weren't. You were willing to hop into bed with a complete and total stranger to prove that someone wanted you. Even then, I chose you because it was a way to Elena. To piss off Stefan. You were a means to an end, and that was your future. You're not mad because I took away your humanity. You're just repulsed the nuisance you were."

She felt as though she had been hit in the face, in the head, in the gut. She wanted to throw up. Her mother warned her there would be times when she would want to crawl inside of a wet, sloppy hole and peel of her skin. This was one of those times.

Slowly, his eyes returned to normal and he turned back to the bottle. Caroline could only stare. Her knees were purposefully locked to keep herself standing.

"Where is this coming from?"

"Don't act surprised!" Damon snapped. "Don't act shocked. You've known what I am from the beginning. I've hurt you before and I love doing it again."

"You've never been this way. Now you're—,"

"What? Cruel? Indifferent?" Damon's eyes lit up as though a great fire was building inside of him, glistening through his glass eyes. "Painful? Please tell me—what's wrong with me?"

"Heartless."

"You don't understand, not like she would." Damon's mouth twitched.

"You're right." Caroline turned and walked away. "I don't."

"You— you don't understand. I need her to love me, despite all the bad things I've done."

"Why, Damon? Why, damn it!" Caroline spun around. "You could have anyone's love— _anyone's_— but it's Elena Gilbert who you obsess and obsess over! You're not a bad guy, Damon, you're really not. Stefan loves you and Alaric and maybe even— but these feelings, this _obsession_, it's killing you. And it's killing me, watching it destroy you. Elena will never love you, like you need her too."

Damon looked at her. Caroline was shaking. She had never wanted anything more than to step across the room and hug the broken boy in front of her. But she couldn't. He didn't care. All he wanted was to be Elena's White Knight. To be _her_ hero.

He closed his eyes. "I never want to look at you again. Get out, Caroline. Get out and don't come back."

Suddenly, it was all too much. Way, way too much. Caroline nodded, careful not to spill the tears on the horizon of her eyes. And walking as though the floor around her was crumbling into the seven levels of Hell, she strode out the door. _Careful, careful, now_. _Don't let them see you cry, Caroline, damn you if they do._

She shut the door behind her, closing her off from the demon of angels. She walked along the hallway, one foot after the other. She didn't know where she was going and she didn't care. All in all, where she ended up didn't matter.

Nothing really mattered any more.

_I can't do this._

Caroline stumbled into a wall and broke down into great heaving sobs. She hadn't cried like this in years. Her cries echoed empty in the great, ancient household.

She had also been wrong, very wrong, in fact. There were still tears left inside of her reserved for only Damon Salvatore.

* * *

><p><em>*AN: So two emotional chapters. Hope you guys will hold on for the rest of it. I promise it gets happier, and ends happy, Daroline and all. It's amazing what an actual apology can do._

_Thanks to all who review! Love your comments! They get me through the day! But if you favorite the story, would ya mind just leaving a little note here and there? If you liked it enough to favorite it, there must be something good you can say about it! See ya'll next time!_


	12. Chapter 12: Omniscent

**Chapter 12: Omniscient**

"_How old are you, Matt?" Alaric asked._

"_Seventeen, sir."_

* * *

><p>Sheriff Liz Forbes watched the sun rise from her bedroom window. She had never been one to understand weather, even small talk about weather. She never believed in the signs of the universe, or the stars, or any of that crock-pot. But she did believe in her gut, in the feeling you get from the very core in your bones, when cracking down on a purp. When sizing up a possible suspect, you have look for any tick, any twitch that would tip off a lie. That ability to sniff out a lie from a mile away had served her well with having a teenage daughter. But this wasn't any teenage girl, it was Caroline. Caroline with her wide eyes and cutting glare. Caroline with a bright smile and unshakable laugh. Caroline that could see through any lie and could counteract with her own. But at the end of the day, she was just a cheerleader. Just a girl with dreams of boys and an excited future. But then she died.<p>

She became the thing Sheriff Forbes tried so hard to hide her baby girl from. The town's darkest secret came down on her daughter without warning, without any precedence or sorrow, it swallowed her whole.

Liz thought she knew how to handle vampires. She knew how to kill them, to hunt them, to burn them. She was still learning how to love one. She turned away from the window to look at the sleeping form on her bed. Liz wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and hold her until all of this passed. Until the dead stopped walking and feasting on flesh. Until she found the perfect boy to make her happy. Until she was little Caroline again.

But Caroline would make it through this, just as she always had. She'd make it through this apocalypse, and then the next, and then the next. Because that's what she did. She survived. As innocent and hopeful as she once was, Caroline was better now. She wasn't helpless and defenseless and scared. In reality, she didn't need anyone— not a man to make her happy and perhaps not her mother, holding her tightly. She would survive.

Liz sat down on the bed and stroked the hair away from her daughter's tearstained face. At least that's what she told herself. Because, as she looked out across the bed, out the window and into the sunrise, she felt a tremor in her bones. The clouds were dark and the sky overcast. The sun was murky with grey and the light that filtered into the room was painted blood red by the smog in the sky. Liz Forbes was never one to look at the signs of the universe as bad omens, but she couldn't help wonder what was to come of the town she loved.

Liz bent over and kissed Caroline's soft cheek. She looked at the clock and figured it was late enough to visit Elena without intruding. Again, she stroked Caroline's forehead, unable to imagine the pain Caroline must have been experiencing. She came to the room last night, face red and puffy, tears streaming. Liz hadn't seen her cry this hard since the divorce. It was startling, but as Caroline sobbed, Liz was a little excited. Not for her pain of course, but because she had come to her mother. She preferred being with her rather than being alone. And that was enough.

Liz patted her hand, then stood up and left the room. She went down the hall, towards the smell of coffee, turning the corner—

—and ran straight into Damon Salvatore. He hadn't shaved and his eyes were glassy. His skin was clammy and a green tinge. He obviously hadn't slept the night before.

"Liz, hullo," he muttered, clearly trying to yank himself out of a stupor.

"Damon, you didn't sleep." She said in her mothering tone.

"Nope. Got things on my mind." He scratched the back of his head, his eyes tilting to the side, but it was enough. Liz caught a glimpse of his inner agony. She extended a hand and gently patted his shoulder. She felt him tense but he didn't pull away.

"I am so sorry, Damon. I heard about Elena. Caroline's been crying all night."

At the mention of her name, Damon pulled away. He took a large step back and swallowed.

"Caroline? Caroline's here?"

"Yes, of course. She came to my room last night, crying. She wouldn't say anything, but she didn't stop crying, for hours. Do you want to see her?"

She reached forward again, but this time Damon leapt back as though shocked by lightening.

"No, no— I don't want to see her— I can't. No, Liz, I've got to go."

He moved past her, stumbling as he went. Liz stared after him perplexed. She had never understood the relationship he and her daughter shared. And perhaps on some level, she didn't really want to know. But she knew in her hardest of hearts that he was a good man. A good man put in bad situations. He was older than her, yes, but now with eternity of age facing her Caroline, age didn't seem that important. And, in that respect, neither did Damon's dirty secrets. Yes, if those two ever became more than friends, Sheriff Liz Forbes would put away her shotgun, at least for a while. Even if he was a little . . . unbalanced at times.

Smiling, she turned back towards the way Damon had come, back towards the kitchen, inwardly grinning at giving her blessing to those two.

However, down the hallway, back in the bedroom, Caroline felt this was the farthest thing from a blessing. It was a curse, the way she felt, the way she wanted him. It was a curse that was going to be the death of her— or at least, several days of a broken heart.

Caroline sighed as fresh tears washed away the remains of last night. Shuddering, she rolled over and continued to cry.

* * *

><p>"By 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation had freed ALL of the slaves! But that wasn't the end of racial cruelty in America, oh no! It wouldn't be for another one hundred years until it became illegal to discriminate by color! Ooh! President—,"<p>

"Mr. Saltzman? What are you doing?" Matt poked his head into the makeshift hospital room where Elena slept. The history teacher had a tattered book on his lap and he leaned forward in excitement. The moment Matt saw him, he immediately sat back, a dull red creeping into his cheeks. He closed the book and resituated himself on the chair.

"Hi, Matt, can I help you?"

"Ms. Lockwood has been making food like a crazy person for hours. I'm just distributing it around, but so far I haven't had any takers. You want a bite?"

"Um, yeah, I could probably take a few spoonfuls of whatever that is." Alaric motioned to the table at the foot of the bed.

"Carol says its oatmeal." Matt shrugged, but then his features hardened. "I think it's her way of helping. I know the feeling."

Alaric swallowed and stood up. He clapped a hand to Matt's shoulder. "And you're doing a great job. Have you heard from anyone else?"

"Yeah. Stefan and Jeremy are with Bonnie working on a spell, I think. None of them really wanted the food. I've never seen Jeremy look so freaked."

Matt stared off into space, the memory very potent. Alaric quickly grabbed the oatmeal and began to wolf it down. "Go on," he said through mouthfuls. Matt came out of his reverie looking happy.

"Tyler's been out patrolling the area around the house. We go on shifts and Tyler usually takes the night, 'cause you know, wolf eyes and all." He laughed, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "We found walkie-talkies in the basement and we check in every hour. So far, we're both still alive."

Nobody laughed at that. Matt cleared his throat. "But look, Mr. Saltzman—,"

"Please, call me Alaric, or Rick. Nobody calls me Mr. Saltzman."

Matt smiled, obviously unsure. "Okay, Rick, Alaric, I think we need to start storing food."

Alaric's heart skipped a beat. "Are we running low?"

"No, not exactly—," Matt scratched the back of his neck. "But we don't know how long we're going to be here. We don't know how long this is going to last. I know Bonnie's working on it but that's a lot of pressure for one girl, witch or not. I've known Bonnie all my life and she'd die before quitting on a situation like this, but we can't let her do that. She has to rest and she hasn't slept in at least three days."

"Of course she can rest. If she can just catch me up, I've dabble in magics before so maybe I can help."

Mtt nodded but it was obvious he wasn't done. "I just don't know if we have the resources to stay here long term. I think we need to start rationing— everything. No more long showers or using water to cook, or only if we have to. I haven't checked on the gas reservoirs but I can't imagine there's a lot left. I know that the house runs on its own grid, because of the stream near by, but if something happens to the current, we're screwed. So no more electricity during the day and candles at night. We'd only use it to keep food good and that's it. I know how to set up an alarm that won't use electricity so I was thinking I could take Tyler out and have him help me set it up. Could we get started on that?"

Alaric watched Matt plan out their survival in his head as he spoke. When he finished speaking, he was a little breathless.

"How old are you, Matt?" Alaric asked.

"Seventeen, sir."

Alaric shook his head. "You shouldn't have to be dealing with this shit, not now. You should be outside—,"

"Playing football or working on my car, right?" Matt said, with a certain amount of acidity. "I'd love to have nothing to worry about but making my car look great for Prom, but I can't. The world is spiraling out of control, my best friend's a witch, my ex-girlfriend is a vampire, and the girl I know better than my own sister is dying and there isn't anything I can do to stop it. I can't stop it, I can't save her, but I can make a damn good trap. So let me do it."

Alaric sighed and nodded. "Go ahead."

Matt's eyes dropped to the floor. "How is she doing? Honestly?"

"Honestly," Alaric sat down again in his chair, looking at Elena as she slept. "Honestly, she's steady. But I know it's not for long. Bonnie says we've got a few days. She's managed to slow the process down, but we don't know for how long. Honestly, we don't know anything."

Matt picked up his tray, his eyes on Elena's pale face. "What's going on between Caroline and Damon?" He asked quietly.

"What? They broke up more than a year ago. You know that—,"

"But there's something more." The way he spoke it was obvious this had been on his mind for a while. "It didn't happen when we were dating but ever since Caroline became a vampire, it's like she's trying to prove something to him. And he— its like he wants to poke her, to get under her skin, but right before he does, he stops and backs off. It's like they're playing this game of Chicken, to see who will _fall_ first, and they've both got a lot more to lose than splashing into a pool, you know?"

Alaric's face was frozen, careful to not let Matt know that secretly he agreed.

"And then, there are these moments, just these tiny brief flashes, they exchange these looks that freak _me_ out. I'm not his friend by any means, and I don't really want to say this, 'cus it sounds kind of fruity but—," Matt's ears flushed red, his eyes focused on Elena. "But sometimes, when he looks at Caroline, he looks— I don't know— vulnerable." His gaze dropped to the floor. "And Caroline, she looks at him in a way she never really looked at me. Or Tyler. I know he has a thing for Elena, or did, or does— so I don't get it. But maybe it's not my place to ask around. I just wish Caroline would talk to me, you know? I don't have super powers, so nobody's watching me, but I watch them. And I see things that people may not even see in themselves. I see their looks. The problem is I don't know what it means. I want her to be happy, but I know no one's good enough for her. But hey, whatever. . . teenage boy problems, right?"

Alaric smiled and nodded. "I think that's just being human, trying to figure out what it all means."

"Yeah I guess so." Matt patted Elena's leg then stood up and left the room.

* * *

><p><em>The microbes tend to search for a greater food source after epinephrine begins to—<em>

Elena.

_The microbes tend to search for a greater food source after epinephrine begins to—_

Elena.

_The microbes tend to search for a greater food source after epinephrine begins to—_

Elena.

Stefan tossed the book on microphages— microbes— to the ground. He slumped back against the wall, exhaustion and hunger tearing at his willpower. His eyes throbbed from staring at long, near-gibberish words for hours on end. He hadn't touched food— blood or otherwise— since they brought her home twenty-four hours ago. He could only guess at the time passed; he hadn't left the room in God knows how long. His head ached, his throat burned, his mouth was dry but for all his troubles, he had absolutely nothing to show for it. He had been highlighting what seemed important and with Elena's pale face flashing bright in his mind, he had focused like he never had before. But as the hours waned and the atmosphere of the room grew sleepy and agitated, Stefan wanted to leave. To rest. To be with Elena. But if he did, she wouldn't be with him for long. And Bonnie hadn't stopped, or Jeremy. They looked barely phased. So what was wrong with him, the vampire, who really didn't need sleep or to eat? What was stopping him?

Maybe it was because as the time passed and he was given a few moments to come down from the reeling his brain took only hours before, the numb shell that encased him began to crack. And through the cracks seeped guilt— guilt like he couldn't imagine. The feeling of one hundred years of murder and destruction had culminated into a single action. Or, actually, a lack of one: _he wasn't fast enough_.

Stefan's hands suddenly clenched and he snatched up the book again, desperate to try and find any distraction. But the flood of memories cut off his sight of the words on the page until he was helpless to watch the scene replay in his memory.

_He was too far away. There were too many of them. They hadn't even tried to attack him— he should have realized that— they were Klaus's creations after all. They went straight for the Doppelganger. How could he be so stupid? _

_He began to run, faster than he ever thought he could. _

_But there was Damon, flying through the herd of the undead like a bat out of hell. Stefan relaxed, if only for a little bit. He would get to her. But he wasn't running for her— for Elena— he was going— for someone else. He climbed up the hill, going—going— _

_Elena slipped behind the crowd of the bodies. And she screamed. _

No, no, please, please, God— no—

_Damon was clutching Caroline, shaking her, his bright eyes full of fear and worry. _

No, wrong girl, save her, please God, save her—

_Stefan ripped apart two Diseased and—_

_It was too late. Elena's arm was torn to shreds. She had passed into unconsciousness. Bonnie's scream was dull in his ears. _

Let me die. Take me too. Please, don't be dead.

_Her heartbeat was horribly faint._

Stefan stood up, knocking the book to the side from his lap. Bonnie and Jeremy looked up in a haze. Stefan shook his head. "I have to get out." He left the room, stumbling as he went.

* * *

><p>Bonnie watched him go, her heart heavy. She wanted to run after him and take him in a hug, whisper everything was going to be okay. But it wasn't. For all she knew, their world might never be the same again. But she couldn't say that. She couldn't let on how scared she was, how sad she was, how close to giving up she felt. She had to be strong for Stefan, for Caroline, for Jeremy.<p>

"Do you think a regeneration spell could be a part of this?"

Bonnie shook her head, regaining focus. "What?"

Jeremy was pointing to something in one of her spell books. "It says here regeneration can be used on the dead too, like for someone's who face was blown off by a bomb or something. So maybe Klaus expanded with that theory and could regenerate dead tissue to be reanimated."

_But it can't be regenerated enough to cause mobility again. Also they couldn't be killed by a shot to the head. I've already thought of that._

"Hmm, yeah maybe."

"So what else did you find?" The candlelight was reflected in his dark eyes.

"I think we need to do some weed-whacking frankly. The well was definitely the source, but it's so deeply imbedded in nature that killing it would take weeks for the rest of the magic to die out. And we don't have weeks. My new theory is that if we can go from branch to branch and breaking the magic there, then it would speed up the process."

"So we need to go out again?"

"Yes. I know it's dangerous. I know what happened last time, but it's necessary. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't necessary." Bonnie swallowed, something sharp pricking her throat. "We need more supplies anyway. I need more information. Going out is our best bet."

Jeremy sighed and shoved the papers on his lap to the ground. He put his head in his hands, rubbing his face. If it had been anybody else, he would have left along time ago, frustrated and tired out of his mind. But this was Bonnie, Bonnie who could calm him in a single glance. When exactly he started seeing his older sister's friend as a woman and not an extension of his sister, he might never know but it stuck with him. He couldn't leave her, not now, but he couldn't help being a little tired.

"We've been working for days, and we've got nothing to show for it. I mean, how much more information are we going to n—,"

And Bonnie broke down into tears. She dropped the pencil in her hands and covered her face in her hands. Jeremy, completely startled, reached forward and immediately grabbed her in a hug. It was a while before she managed to form words.

"I'm so, so, so, sorry, Jeremy—,"

"No, Bonnie, shhh," he clutched her tighter. He knew he should be worrying about her, about the end of the world, about his sister, but holding her brought back memories of their first kiss. He swallowed and pulled her closer. "You're doing your best. We'll figure it out."

"You don't understand!" She suddenly shoved him away, her tiny frame shaking. "I have no idea what I'm doing! I have no idea how to save Elena! There's nothing in any of these books anywhere that say anything about how to save her! I'm not even sure if any of these stupid spells are working to stop the disease! My best friend's dying and I can't do anything about it! Grams would know what to do but she's dead! Goddamn it, why does everybody leave? Why does everyone keep dying on me?"

Tears ran down her face like streams and her chocolate eyes were blurred. She fell over into his lap. Her words were still ringing bright and sharp in his ears. They were so hauntingly familiar. After a moment, he bent over and drew her too him.

"I'm so sorry, Jeremy, I can't believe I'm telling you this, you, of all people! I'm just so freakin' tired!"

"Shhh, it's alright." He patted her. "What can I do to help?"

"Just hold me."

She cried and cried and he was there, Bonnie the sole thought in his mind and the sudden terror kept at bay. As he rubbed her shoulders, his hollow mind suddenly began fluttering like the pages of a book.

"Bonnie, use me."

Her response was muffled.

"No, listen." He pulled her up, staring her in those beautiful brown eyes. "I read something that said witches draw energy from the earth but they can also use humans, drawing from their aura. Use me."

Bonnie hiccupped. "What?"

Jeremy took her hands, interlocking their fingers. "You said you were exhausted. I'm no good at books or memorizing, but I'm strong, more than most people give me credit for. But you never thought I was weak. To you I was always strong. Please, let me help you."

Bonnie cleared away the tears and tightened her grip on his hands. She swallowed and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and he felt it— a deep pull— sudden and desperate— and then it broke into something pleasant, like a soft drift out into the ocean. Jeremy sighed and Bonnie sighed. The pull was comforting now, gentle. Soft. Sweet. Like chocolate.

Bonnie suddenly lunged forward and kissed him on the mouth.

* * *

><p>"And I think that's everyone." Matt said, satisfied. He sat down in one of the few remaining seats in the Salvatore living room. Bonnie had found him half an hour ago and asked if he could bring everyone in for a meeting. He agreed immediately, happy for something to do, but nearly regretted as he went from room to room to find only despair on the faces of the inhabitants. He had barely stayed outside of Damon's room, knocking quickly and passing along the news. He didn't wait for a response before he zoomed off to another room. When the dark vampire entered the room several minutes later looking rather disheveled, Matt was honestly surprised. Stefan came later, looking less pale but increasingly on edge. Alaric came down, the old textbook in his hand. Bonnie and Jeremy were standing oddly close. Caroline snuck out of the hallway's shadows and hid in the corner. She didn't look well. It didn't make her any less beautiful. Matt's heart tightened as he watched her. Then his eyes drifted to Damon. He wasn't looking anywhere near her.<p>

Bonnie stepped away from Jeremy and cleared her throat.

"Look, I know that morale around here has been, well— non-existent— but I'm close. We can trace the magic from the well now. Now it's just a form of hack and slash. If we can cull the roots, a final attack on the source will end the spread of the disease. No more rising dead bodies."

Jeremy handed her a roll of paper and with a swift flourish, she lay open a map of Mystic Falls on the table. There were tiny stickers all across town, with one dark blue circle over the well. It was more stickers than Matt liked to see.

"It's as simple as that?" Alaric asked.

"We only have a certain amount of time after each cut. The roots could re-grow if we're not careful. That's why we need to go out in groups. We start out in the far range and work our way in. Each group goes out every night to their assigned target, take out whatever is there, and drop one of my spells." She pulled out a blue bottle, revealing it to all of them. "You dropped this and it breaks down the magics."

"That's it?" Stefan asked. "We could slow this in a week?"

"I'm saying we could end this— all of this— in a couple of days."

* * *

><p>Alaric walked, shotgun slung over his shoulder and a flashlight in his free hand. The beam flashed from tree to tree. It crossed paths with Liz's light as they trekked through the dark woods. The crunch of their boots on the dead, fall leaves was the only sound in the eerily quiet forest. The animals had fled. They knew the gravity of the situation. Alaric could feel it in his bones though. He could feel the denaturation of the natural laws, and he didn't have even a spit of magic in his blood. He had only been in one tornado, outside of Lawrence Kansas, and he'd never forget the sickly green tint of the sky, the acidity of the air, the sting of the sharp rain. Now all he waited for was the rain. When the apocalypse finally came, he always assumed it would feel something like this.<p>

His eyes flitted over to Liz. She was on the hunt. Every muscle was tense, her ears tight and listening hard. Her shotgun was primed at the ready, a hunting knife and the police pistol attached at her hip. He knew she was focused for her own safety, but she was looking so hard into the dark to find Caroline. Her daughter's name was forming on her lips, fear causing her heart to pound. And just as she was about to call out for her, they caught a blonde flash a few feet a head of them and then suddenly, Caroline appeared in full few of their flashlights. She looked . . . empty.

"I didn't find anything. I think we're clear for a while. You can put the guns away. Besides, we're almost there."

In a flash, Caroline was gone.

Liz stared at the spot where she stood for a moment and then with a sigh, she put the gun on safety and threw it over her shoulder.

"She's just stressed, Liz." Alaric said comfortingly. "We might actually be slowing her down."

"I know we are." Liz continued forward. "I just wish I could help her. She's been so lost lately."

"She just worried about Elena. And you know, end of the world."

Liz was silent as they walked.

"Liz, look, this might be none of my business. But Matt said something to me that has got me thinking. Do you know anything about—,"

Caroline appeared at a tree. "The old factory is just over the ridge."

Alaric and Liz jumped at her sudden appearance but this time she didn't disappear. She turned slowly and led them into the old sugar factory.

* * *

><p>A chain-linked fence met them as their first obstacle. Caroline grabbed the paddock around the handle and with a quick snap, she ripped the padlock in half. She pushed back the fence. It fell to the ground with a loud metal shudder. As though on cue, dark shadows rose from the surrounding sheds and came at them, ambling and moaning. Alaric raised the barrel to aim, but Caroline pushed it out of the way, shaking her head.<p>

"We don't want to fight more than we need to. The sound will spook the others."

Without waiting for a response, she bolted towards the five Diseased.

BLAM. One went down.

SQUISH. Caroline pierced two heads at once.

She crushed another between her palms. The final one was done in with one sweep of her leg.

"Let's go," she said.

She met the factory door with a sharp kick. The doors creaked as they fell the ground, landing with a huge crash and dust flying everywhere. More shadows peeled down from the walls, their teeth gnashing. Caroline dispatched them like a well oiled machine, emotionless and precise.

Alaric watched her go with a sharp pain in his heart. This was not the Caroline he knew.

He glanced at Liz next to him. There were tears in her eyes.

* * *

><p>Inside Alaric found bandages and alcoholic rubs from the manager's office. He also found some prescribed Valium for teeth surgery. He happily took it and added it to his bag. They had split up and Caroline had taken the most open parts of the building, like the factory floor. They were to meet at the back of the factory in one hour. It had already been thirty minutes. Alaric found a bag of chips and a several bottles of honey and syrup. In the locker room, he found towels, shampoo and extra clothes. In one locker he found several packets of deodorant. He grabbed those eagerly. At forty-five minutes, he left and began walking towards the factory floor.<p>

He weaved in between the stacks. There was no sign of Caroline— and then he heard a satisfying crunch of a Diseased body going down. He turned through one stack and found two dark shapes, one standing over the other, making motions. He clicked on his flashlight and the light illuminated Caroline grasping the faded and torn shirt of a Diseased and her free hand repeatedly pummeling the bloody face. The second the light caught her, she dropped the body and looked over her shoulder. Her fangs were retreating and the color of her eyes was fading from black to icy-blue again. She didn't respond but turned and walked off.

He couldn't let her be like this.

Alaric marched forward, letting the flash light slide over his shoulder and he dropped the gun to the ground. He swept forward—

—Caroline suddenly pounced. She spun and grabbed Alaric by the throat, pushing him to a wall. "What the hell is going on, Alaric? Why have you been looking at me like I'm crazy all night?"

"What's this if not crazy?" He stammered.

"You haven't seen crazy."

A chill ran up his spine. "We can't fight. I know that things are tense but we can't be at each other's throats. We need to stick together. That's what Elena would want."

Her blue eyes flashed and the sudden heat was gone. She let him go and he slumped to the ground, gasping. He didn't know if what he was about to say was either good for Caroline or just plain stupid.

"She wouldn't want to us to fight. Nothing's more important than helping Bonnie. She doesn't care about past indiscretions . . ." Alaric stood up, still rubbing his neck. Caroline turned her back to him and hid her face from the light. "That is . . . unless you've got something to feel guilty about." He sighed, wondering if this was all just some horrible misunderstanding. "What's going on between you and Damon?"

Caroline visibly stiffened. "Nothing. But this is _so not_ the time to talk about this." She ran a tired hand over her face.

"I'm calling bull on that one, Caroline. It's obviously something. Everyone can see that something's wrong. Your mother thinks you're sad about Elena, but I know better. I can see it. Matt can see it."

At that, she flipped around, her eyes wet. "Matt knows?"

"Matt wouldn't know anything if nothing was going on."

Caroline swallowed, a few tears sprinkling her face, but didn't say anything. Alaric sighed, suddenly feeling sorry that he was the one to bring this all down on her.

"I know something's wrong with Damon. He's been blatantly ignoring me. I thought it was Elena. I'm sure that's part of it, but then I realized something. He doesn't look grief-stricken, he looks guilty. I couldn't figure it out and then Matt said something and now it makes a whole lot of sense. What happened between you two?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, her soft hair fluttering. "Or, at least, not any more."

"You need to talk to him, Caroline."

Her features hardened. "I don't need to _do_ anything." She spun on her heel and walked off into the darker part of the stack. Alaric followed.

"We can't be fighting like this, not when this is such a crucial time." She obviously wasn't listening. "You have to put your anger aside, Caroline! Damn it, this animosity is going to get us all killed!" He sped up and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to look at him. "What happened?" He asked forcefully.

"There's nothing going on. He's made that perfectly clear."

She pushed away from him and continued to walk away. Again he followed.

"Damon's an ass. He says things he doesn't mean, especially when it comes to love. He's just mad and frustrated and—,"

"Shh!" Caroline stopped dead. Alaric nearly ran into her. "Be quiet. I heard something."

Alaric cocked his shotgun, briefly wondering if this was some inventive distraction from the topic.

"This way." She murmured and took off fast, but not so fast that he couldn't keep up. They darted in between shelves, past objects, past crumpled bodies, Caroline listening intently. They turned down a long hallway and Alaric's flashlight caught a dark shape at the far end.

"It's alive." Caroline muttered. "I think it's human."

Alaric nodded but raised the barrel nonetheless. Caroline led the way towards the barely breathing body. His light beam hit the face of an elder man.

Caroline gasped.

It was her father, Bill Forbes.

He was absurdly pale and he was sweating buckets. His breathing was ragged and his eyes fluttered, as if he was constantly slipping in and out of consciousness. There were bandage patches on his neck and collarbone. He was bleeding from his shoulder. The blood poured from the open wound there. The flesh was torn away by teeth. He had been bitten.

Caroline swallowed. Immediately Alaric dropped his gun and took off his outer jacket to staunch the blood flow. "Come on, Caroline," he barked, "help me get him up."

"No." Alaric blinked and looked over his shoulder.

"What?"

"No. I'm not helping him. Not after what he did to me."

"Caroline, he's your father."

"I don't care."

Alaric released the jacket and leaned back a little bit. But as he did, a surprisingly fast hand grabbed his arm. Quick as lightening, Caroline grabbed the shotgun off the floor.

"No, don't shoot!" Bill wheezed. "And don't leave me."

"Why shouldn't we, you son of a bitch?" Caroline asked with a deadly tone.

He swallowed then coughed, blood flying as spittle. He tried to sit up straighter but only slid further down.

"Because I know where Klaus is."

* * *

><p><em>*AN Welcome back, everybody! So yes, last few chapters have been super intense and so for your heart rate and mine, I thought it would be good to step back for a bit and just get a glimpse of how everyone else is doing in the apocalypse. Obviously, not very well. How will they overcome this, well you're just gonna have to read to find out._

_And because I failed you last week with a post, this is an extra 1000 words! Yay! But since I update in pairs of two, I think I will post something else tomorrow as well : ) And it's literally Daroline smushy goodness e'ry'ware! I'm not posting more tonight, cuz frankly its not done! But it's about halfway done then I need to do edits, and blah, blah, blah- you guys don't care about the writing process, but that's the way it is._

_Just want to throw a shout-out to a new reader. She's one of my close friends and she (by her own free will) asked to read my fanfic and the texts and FB messages about how awesome it is makes me feel SUPA AWESOME. Thank you, you have no idea how much it means to me!_

_Also, I'm going to adopt Matt. He is not useless and pointless and an overused plot device. I love him. Just saying. _

_Thanks for all the reviews and faves! You guys make my life!_


	13. Chapter 13: Absolute

**Chapter 13: Absolute**

_It's a kiss that sits upon on her lips that waits for planes and battle ships_

_She wants to be a dancer and he has got a picture_

_On his wall and it's a sailor in a new port every night_

_Yet man was born to trouble _like sparks fly upwards innocent

_-Absolute, The Fray_

* * *

><p>Over the ridge to her right, the sun was beginning to set. It turned the sky an amber bronze, dull and lacking luster. The grain fields they zoomed past had become a muddy brown. Far away, Caroline could see the brewing of a storm. The dark cloud presided over much of the sky, and they were driving right into it. The sun itself was dying, fading by its declining health and promising eternal darkness. She knew in her gut that after this night— whatever happened— things would never be the same.<p>

Caroline looked at her limp hands folded in her lap. They were shaking, though the car itself was warm. She loved the feeling of warm leather, pressing against the back of her thighs. But she couldn't say that, not out loud. In the deepest corners of her heart, she wished he would never stop driving. They could drive right through the storm and keep going, until they were a speck in the sunlight. But she had already wasted a day crying like a baby into a pillow while her mother comforted her, completely oblivious to the deeper reason behind her tears. If Elena died, it was because she was still the weak, defenseless, pathetic Caroline she always was. But if her friend had any idea of how much pain Caroline had suffered through, then maybe, just maybe, there would be forgiveness.

_Pain over what?_ She asked herself. _Your guilt for lusting after Damon? Your shock that nothing had changed? You thought that with two years passing and the growth of some fangs would earn you some respect? Have you even met him?_

She swallowed, keeping the reason to herself. Because it was the first time, the only time, she thought that he— loved—

"How close are we?"

Caroline snapped out of her reverie. "What?" She looked over at her driver. His knuckles were white against the steering wheel, but other than that, he seemed to be at a stoic ease.

"How close are we to the old house? Alaric said it was outside of Charleston."

"Um—," Caroline snatched up the map that had dropped to the floor. It was upside down. She flipped it. Oh, wait, she had it right to begin with. She flipped it again.

"Come on, it's a freakin' map." He sneered. "Even you can read a map."

"Piss off." She muttered. Finally, she had it right and quickly glanced at the street sign as they barreled past it. "So, Brackenridge . . . we're about twenty miles south."

"God damn it," he hissed. The car engine roared as he pressed the gas pedal tighter to the floor.

Caroline clutched the leather seat. "Chill out, we'll get there when we get there."

Damon said nothing but threw the car into its highest gear. Caroline scowled. She had about enough of this attitude.

"Christ, Damon, get over yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"I know you're still mad about the other night. You should know, so am I."

He scoffed. "What the hell do you have to be angry about?"

"Really?" She gawked. "You are _that_ narcissistic, that arrogant—,"

"Nothing new, baby—,"

"—_that selfish_ to think I wouldn't be furious?"

Damon's jaw was set tight.

"You think you're a hero, but actually, you're just a coward, Damon. A—,"

He nearly yanked the car off the road. He slammed on the break and pulled the car to a stop. Caroline thought she was going to fly through the window shield at any minute. She was livid the moment the car stopped spinning.

"What the hell, Damon!" She screeched. "What's wrong with you!"

"Get out!" He growled. "Get out of this car right now or so help me God I will pull you out."

"You're not going to leave me here! You can't push me away the second you disagree with me!"

"It's worked so far!" When she didn't move, he leapt out of the car, and strode around the side. He yanked the car-door open with such force, the car shook. "Get out of the DAMN CAR!" He bent down and grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her. The second her feet hit the ground, Caroline reeled back her fist.

Before he knew what was coming, she punched him in the face. He stumbled back, yowling. With the pent up aggression from last night, Caroline went at him again. She kicked him in the shins and he went down. He fell on all fours.

"I _am not_ her." She growled. "Get that through your thick skull. I am not her. I will not be pushed around by you. You will not kick me out of this car, or threaten to bodily remove me from anywhere. You need me on this trip, Damon Salvatore, whether you like it or not. This can go down the easy way or the hard way, but so far, you haven't chosen correctly. So, I'm driving, dick."

Caroline turned and walked around to the driver's side. She had her hand on the door when suddenly he grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her into the car.

His mouth was close enough to kiss.

"Fine, Blondie. We'll do it your way. But don't confuse my passivity for kindness. Come at me like that again and you'll have a real fight on your hands. And you do not want that."

Caroline was breathing heavy. His cheeks were flushed and his skin warm. She could feel the heat emit from his hands. His eyes were bright, cutting through her anger and sadness. They struck her very core and like a pin prick, their brightness bled out a flood of memories.

It brought her back to that night. The night his hands did things that stimulated every sense within her. The night his tongue drew patterns of blood on her back. The night his sweat burned hot on her flesh as they swooned together, an agonizing pleasure sweeping her entire body like fire. The night he set her alive—

He suddenly let go of her shoulders as though scorched by her touch. Caroline opened her eyes to see him looking shocked and pale. Her eyes traveled from his bewildered blue ones, down his sharp nose, to his soft, open lips. God, she wanted to kiss them, kiss them to repay the favor—

—he was there, standing over her, his lips wet and his eyes suddenly cloudy with lust, with obsession. He wanted to kiss her back. She could see that now. He wanted to kiss her like she never had been before. His hand touched her soft hair and she leaned forward, so desperate to have another taste—

she kissed air.

He was back in the idly-running car. "If you're going to drive, then do it. The sun's setting. We haven't got enough time to waste."

Caroline took a deep breath, closing her eyes and trying to push his yearning face from her mind. She nodded to herself and quickly jumped into the car. As she closed the door, the blood sun dropped below the horizon and night had come.

* * *

><p>It was several hours before. Alaric and Caroline shoved through the Salvatore door, dragging the limp body of Bill Forbes. Liz followed close behind, immediately barking orders. Matt and Tyler came running, taking over for Alaric and Caroline. Stefan led the way to another guestroom, near Elena's. They propped him up and went to work to stop the bleeding. Alaric's jacket was drenched. Bonnie met Caroline in the doorway.<p>

"Do you really want to save him?" She asked.

"He says he knows where Klaus is. If we can just get him awake, that'll be enough."

Bonnie nodded. She waited until Matt placed a new patch on his shoulder before putting her hands on Bill's forehead. A green pulse emanated from her hands into his body. Immediately, color returned to his face and his breathing returned to normal.

And then Bonnie coughed. She leaned forward and fell asleep. There were several worried glances before Jeremy stepped forward and put a blanket over her shoulders. "She's exhausted," he said.

It was later that next morning when Caroline realized she hadn't slept all night and probably wouldn't sleep for the next couple of days. So she climbed out of bed, pulled on her jeans and hiking boots, and grabbed the crossbow near the door. She went down to the living room to look at the map for a new destination and found Damon pouring over it. She was about to slide back to her own room, when his eyes flitted to her. They caught her face and made her freeze.

They were saved by Alaric walking in, a cup of coffee in his hands. Both immediately glanced to the floor.

"There's an old house, near Charleston, that's on the map. I was going to take Tyler and Matt out later to clear it out, but since you both look ready to go, do you want to go check it out?"

Neither of them spoke. Alaric smirked into his cup.

"That wouldn't be a problem, would it? You two being alone? There's nothing going on, so no problem, right?"

Damon snatched up the map on the table, shoving the keys in his pocket and striding off towards the door. "Come on, Blondie. Road trip time."

* * *

><p>The car hummed as they entered into a dark forest. The moon was climbing in the sky, reaching higher and higher as the night went on and the road grew darker from overcast trees. Moonlight skittered across the windowpane as it darted in between the thick Virginian oak trees. Caroline glanced momentarily at the light before turning her full attention back to the map.<p>

"The map says the road cuts off into a dead-end but Bonnie made a line through the woods here. I think she means we can walk through it."

"Alright," Damon said. He pulled the car over the side of the road and turned it off. "You're the Map Queen."

Caroline folded up the map and put it into her jacket pocket. She shut the door and headed over to the road barrier. She took over it in one strode. He followed close behind her. She glanced over her shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't mean the Ice Queen?"

She felt him stiffen. "No. Not then. But I've thought about it."

"Yeah, well, I've thought about some choice names for you too."

"Really? Did most of them begin and end with Doo-doo Head?"

"No. But they were less eloquent ways saying of other body parts."

"Getting dirty now, are we?"

Caroline stopped dead and spun around. She caught a glimpse of his classic smirk before it faded and he frowned.

"What?"

Caroline sighed, her mouth in a sharp line. It was now or never.

"Damon, I have to know. Answer this and I swear I will never talk to you again. You win." She crossed her arms, shrugging. He wasn't looking at her. His fists were clenched in thought. "Please, just tell me. Did the other night mean anything to you?"

He walked past her, moving around without touching her. Caroline closed her eyes, biting her tongue and keeping the sudden prick in her eyes at bay. Then she followed him.

"Damon, the answer's simple. It's a yes or no answer. You really don't have to think about it. A year ago, I wouldn't be asking this question, I wouldn't even be considering it. I mean back then, it didn't mean anything to me. It was nice, yeah, really nice, but it wasn't a healthy relationship. You had that Katherine thing going on, and I was— oh, God I don't even want to think about that—,"

"It's not simple, Caroline!" He snapped at her. "It's never been that simple!"

"So what did it mean? Please, just say it." She swallowed a rush of tears and crossed her arms. "Because I can't take another day of just not knowing."

He stared at her, half of his face hidden by the shadow of an oak tree. She wanted to shake him, scream at him, tell him how furious she was at how he had made her suffer, how badly she wanted him and how badly it hurt that he didn't want her. There was a silence, balanced so precarious on his next words that she couldn't breath.

Finally he shook his head and walked away.

"God you were so much easier to be around when I could just Compel you!"

She wanted to scream. She wanted to sit down and scream until her ears shattered. And then the anger flared.

"Compel me?" she snarled as she followed him deeper into the forest. "Compel me to do what, Damon? Kiss you? Want you? Beg you to stop hurting me?"

"Compel you to shut UP!"

So that was his answer. He hadn't changed. There were no feelings, nothing. She had been so sure. She was nothing better than the stupid little slut she was as a human.

"So it really did mean nothing . . ."

Damon let out an actual snarl of frustration and turned to face her. He didn't grab her but he leaned in, clenching her attention with a single glance. But it was his eyes that scared her more than his actions ever had. They were desperate and lost. He wanted her to listen but he himself wasn't exactly sure of what to say.

"Should it?" His eyes searched his face, imploring her, compelling her, begging her to understand. "Why? _Why _would we work, Caroline? _How could we?_ And now with Elena— fading— and something between us— Look, I'll put it this way." He sighed. "It mean that lot more than I thought sex with you ever could mean. It was that, and a hell of a lot more. But what that means— _for us_— I don't know. Is that a good enough answer?"

"No," she said airily, uncrossing her arms. Damon rolled his eyes. "You and I both know I deserve more than that, but if you're going to be pig-headed about this, then fine. But let's just go. You're right, we don't have much time."

Damon glared, obviously put out with her lack of compassion. But no way would he get off that easy. The momentary melt in their acidity towards one another was gone and they walked in a fair distance from each other as they crossed through the forest. The woods were silent but the bright moon was hidden completely behind the thick trees. Caroline could feel the static cling in the air from the bristled wind of the coming storm. She raised her hood over her head to shield her neck from the prickled air and to hide Damon's profile from her view. She could sense him next to her so she knew he wasn't far, but she could more easily navigate the woods without his brilliant face in view. She put her hands in her jacket pockets, feeling the blue vial there. It was warm and throbbed slightly, like a pulse. She clutched it tighter for comfort.

_What the hell are you doing, Caroline? What did you think was going to happen?_

There was a part of her that wished he would have just said no. There was nothing special about her and she was a momentary distraction from his love of Elena, his one true love. Because then, she could get passed it. Elena would once again be the center of the universe, she was alone and Damon had no idea she existed. The world would be right again.

And then there was the other half of her mind that hadn't stopped screaming. For once in her life, the wheel had fallen off the axis and the book of life had been set on fire. The plan was ruined and Caroline, the control freak of the century, felt no need to right it all. Ever since she met Damon Salvatore, it was okay to be wrong.

A countryside mansion waited for them across the grassy land. Its lights were on and a few shadows loitered around the grounds close to the house. Workers brought boxes from the back of the house out to a quickly set up tent in the palatial backyard. They went in pairs of two, disappearing behind the flaps and reappearing moments later, their hands free and their eyes glazed. Caroline glanced past the tent and saw a larger number of hefty-built men standing around.

"Guards," Damon muttered, suddenly very close to her. "Klaus has gotta be using this place as one of his base camps." His hand firmly grasped her hand and forced her into a crouch. They snuck along the line of trees, staying in the shadows. He led her away from the house, towards a gated plot of land. As they approached it, Caroline realized it was a graveyard. They dropped down behind a tomb.

"So where did Bonnie say we have to drop this damn vial?" Damon whispered. He hid her behind the wall as his eyes frantically searched for any signs of trouble. Caroline fumbled for the map before finally opening it fully. Her heart sunk as the sticker lay directly over the tent.

"That bad, huh?" Damon asked, only partly grinning.

"Worse. Base camp is blocking us."

"Damnit." He looked over, his plotting brain suddenly kicking into overdrive. "Ok, look, this what we're going to do. But if I say run, you run. You don't stop. You don't think about the tent, or breaking the spell, you run. And you don't look back." His eyes again were pleading. "Promise me."

Caroline curtly rolled up the map. "Not a chance in hell."

Damon gritted his teeth. "Caroline, this is not—,"

"This is not the time for doing something stupid!" Her eyes glittered fiercely. "And splitting us up is definitely something stupid!"

"You are so unbelievably stubborn!"

"No! I just don't put up with your crap!"

"If you could just listen—,"

Suddenly, his hands were ripped from her grasp as a figure threw him across the graveyard and into a stone mausoleum.

"Damon!"

Another shadow came up behind her, grabbing her around the waist. These were not Diseased. They were solid, and much, much stronger.

"Let me go, you cretin!" Caroline flailed, her legs kicking. Damon's figure wasn't moving from the ground. She paused, focusing on fighting and not panicking. With a swift, direct kick to her attacker's kneecap, she heard it snap and he dropped her. She lunged forward, another shadow fast approaching Damon.

"Don't touch him! Don't you dare—,"

WHAP.

Something heavy hit her across the back of the head. She stumbled to the ground, lights dancing in front of her eyes. She felt nauseous and exhausted at the same time. Something came up and took her hand. It touched her finger and then let her go.

"No, wait, don't hurt us." She muttered.

Through the blur in her vision, she watched the shadows grab Damon and throw him next to her. There was blood running down the side of his head.

_Please, don't be dead_.

A foot kicked her to the ground and she lay there, unable to fight back. She watched Damon as her vision faded. Slowly and unsteadily, she reached forward. Their fingers were about to touch when she lost consciousness.

Caroline flew up right, her head spinning. Panting, she glanced around and gingerly touched the knot on the back of her head. Her hand came away wet with blood.

* * *

><p>"Ow." She whined softly.<p>

"Good, you're up." Caroline whipped around and found Damon languidly leaning against the wall. "I thought I was going to have to start drawing funny things on your face."

"You could have just nudged me," she moaned, leaning forward with her head in her hands.

"True. However, I've always wanted to try my calling as a tattoo artist." Damon picked off a speck of dirt from his jacket. "But I left my felt marker at home, so you're safe. For now."

He wiggled his eyebrows as she stood up and dusted herself off, glancing around at their settings. They sat at the bottom of a deep hole, the earthen walls rising high above them. Wild roots stuck out from the dirt and around their feet pieces of rock were crumbled, as though smashed. Caroline grabbed one of larger pieces and read Tom Hiddl— then a little lower said 1904— She looked up again and saw corners of coffins sticking out from dirt walls. The night sky was black and kissed with diamond stars.

"Oh my God, I think we're below the cemetery. The ground, it caved in."

"My assessments exactly, Captain Obvious." Damon said with an audible smirk. He stepped away from the wall with a bit of spring in his step. "The problem is getting out. And yes, by the scrunch in your stubborn nose, I have tried."

"I doubt that." She jumped, reaching for one of the lower roots. Again she jumped. Damon sniggered behind her. Caroline gritted her teeth, bent low and pounced, her vampire senses throwing her muscles into high gear. She got ten feet in the air and flailing, her hands clawed into the dirt. She managed to grab a root, two feet lodged and the other hand dug into the dirt. But the earth crumbled, the root snapped and back she fell. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for impact—

She dropped into his arms.

"You see," he muttered into her ear. "When I tried, I didn't have anybody to catch me."

Immediately she wiggled away, but he was grinning.

"Ok, fine," said Caroline. "So can't get out, any phone reception?"

Damon showed his crushed cell phone from his pocket. "Not unless that bump on your head conveniently turned you into an antenna."

Caroline threw her own piece of rubbish to the ground. "Damn it!"

"Oh, no, you can't get depressed now, sweetheart. I've saved the best for last." He took a step back and gave a little twirl. He ended in a Fonzie-thumbs-out stance, grinning. "Notice anything different?"

Caroline frowned. "No."

"Ah, well, maybe after a few decades, you start to feel a little naked without your bling."

He wiggled his ring-less fingers.

Caroline's heart suddenly leapt into her throat as she looked at her hand. He was right. Someone had taken their rings, which meant—

"That's right." He said in a singsong voice. "In a couple of hours, you and me, we go poof."

* * *

><p>"I spy with my little eye something that's starts with 'd'."<p>

"Dirt."

"Right again! I spy something with my little something that begins with 'b'."

"Brown. Brown dirt."

"Excellent!"

"Ugh!" Caroline jumped at the roots again. "Can't you help?"

"Actually, I'm quite comfortable here, on this dusty little floor. Oh! I spy something else that begins with 'd'."

The roots crumbled away again. "Crap!" She wiped the dirt from her hands and stepped back to look for a more compact side of the walls. She leapt— again— and again fell on her ass. Suddenly a sharp pain lanced through her head and a familiar growl gurgled in her stomach. Caroline gasped as her fangs pierced through her gums. Carefully she massaged away the thirst in her mouth but the hunger in her stomach remained. She turned to see Damon watching her carefully from the dark.

"The good news is the sun will get us before we shrivel up."

Caroline clenched her teeth, her fists tight. "We'll get out."

"Well, excellent. I'll just be over here when hell freezes over. Let me know."

Caroline scowled, trying to clear her head of the hunger. "Look, I could figure it out . . . if I just wasn't so damn hungry." She looked around again, fully aware he was watching her.

"You know," he said, his voice as soft as velvet. "We could just have a return of the other night . . . feeding off each other, exchange of bodily fluids, the whole shebang."

Her silence was answer enough. Damon settled down in the dirt again. "I spy with my little eye—,"

"Damon, stop! We'll die if we don't get out, you do realize that, right?"

"I'm not saying you have to stop trying to save the world," he snapped. "You can go right back to running up the walls." Then his demeanor grew soft. "Just play with me. For a little while."

She was still unconvinced and a little scared. "What about Elena? Don't you need to get back to her? Be her hero and everything?"

"The way I see it, there are two options." He spoke hard and fast, his eyes bright in the darkness and pricking her like lasers. "We get out, she's got hours, maybe. We stay here and I get to be free of her, of this life, of my guilt. I spend the last few hours of my cursed, unnatural life with someone—," his voice caught and there was less animosity when he spoke again, "— with someone who I've grown to like a lot more than I probably should. Nobody will know we gave up, or at least, I did."

"So, that's it? You're suicidal?"

"I'm just so freakin' tired!" He bounded to his feet, anger suddenly flooding into every detail. "I hate feeling like this, being this person! Things come at me faster than I can bear them sometimes and it hurts! It hurts so badly I want to cut my consciousness out of me with a knife! I try and shrug it off but I can't— I can't do it any more! I just want it to STOP!"

His final word bounded around the cavern like the sound of shattering glass, but they didn't look away. They were trying to find each other, find something, in the shadows of the ground.

"Don't you just wish—,"

"That this wasn't your life?" Caroline watched him. "That this wasn't you? That you didn't have to make the decisions that you do?"

"So then play with me."

Caroline looked at the sky.

"Please? Just to help me forget?"

She closed her eyes and sighed, then nodded. When she opened her eyes, he was looking at her with something that looked remarkably like . . . hope.

She pulled a quarter out of her back pocket, and sat down in front of Damon. He eagerly joined, watching her with estranged interest. "We used to do this on the bus ride to cheerleading competitions."

He was a little taken aback. "I'm not braiding anything."

"Calm down. It's not that. You're heads, I'm tails." She flipped it. It landed on tails. "Oh goodie, my turn. Hmm, let's see." She pulled her mouth to side in concentration. "What's your favorite color?"

"This is your superior game?" Damon chuckled.

"It's a teambuilding exercise. If your side lands facing up, then you ask a question. If it's the other person, they ask you a question. You are bound by the laws of nature and feminism—or in your case, masochism— to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Kills loads of time."

He stared at her, obviously uncertain. Their gazes held a moment before Caroline flipped the coin again.

"Heads."

Damon frowned before settling down. "Fine. Favorite smell?"

"Vanilla candles in a summer rain."

Flipped.

"Heads."

"First impression of Avatar."

"The movie?"

"Yes."

"Tedious but it was worth it for the two-hour eye sex of Pandora."

Damon snorted. "Go on."

Flipped.

"Tails. Hmm, first car?"

"A horse drawn carriage."

"Oh, right."

Flipped.

"Heads."

"First boy band poster you ever put on your wall."

"Oh that's cruel!"

"You're bound by your fallopian tubes or whatever."

Caroline giggled. "Fine. It was Jumpstreet."

Flipped.

"Tails. Same question."

"I didn't have a poster. It was a shrine to Justin Timberlake's hair."

Caroline's laughter echoed out from the graves, rising into the night. It was nearing midnight.

* * *

><p>"Tails. Scariest movie you ever saw?"<p>

"28 Days Later. It made me think of the outbreak of the Influenza after World War I. I served for a while at the end, when the disease started to kill more people than war wounds. I got hit in the leg and was on bed-rest for a couple of days. But during one of those days I woke up and everyone else in the room was dead. I've been a little skeezy around disease ever since."

"I can understand that— _achoo_!" Caroline gave a massive fake sneeze. She grinned.

Damon narrowed his eyes playfully. "That was uncalled for."

"But massively entertaining— ha ha ha!"

Flipped.

"Heads."

"Worst book you ever read?

"The Mixed Up Files of Ms Basil E. Frankweiler. It was boring and I had no idea what was going on the entire book. To this day I don't think it had a plot." Caroline then paused, her eyes lifting in thought, her head cocked to the side. "Hmm, well, that was a while ago. After recent . . . developments, there's just one book I have to hate for its complete incorrectness."

"And that would be?"

Her eyes twinkled as she smirked. "You made the comment once before, right before the Ball. Don't you remember? _Vampires don't sparkle_!" She deepened her voice, mocking him.

Damon sniggered. "I heard he looked just sweaty in the movie."

"Sweaty, bedazzled, however you want to look at it."

Damon watched her face as she flipped the coin again. "Tails. What's your earliest memory?"

His eyes twinkled. Caroline felt her heart rising into her throat, her cheeks warm, and she looked away. "Why would you ask that?" He asked.

"Ah, ah, not your turn," she grinned, twiddling the coin in her fingers. "Fess up, Salvatore."

"A garden. In summer. It stuck with me. Don't know why."

Caroline smiled into the ground, shaking her head. "You think you're such a bad ass . . ."

His face was bright, not quite smiling, but not without seriousness. "You should have seen me in the fifties. I was your regular James Dean."

"Ooo, my hero." Caroline smirked.

Flipped.

"Heads."

"Who was your first kiss?"

"You're treading into dangerous waters now, Salvatore."

"I've never been one to tread lightly, Ms. Forbes. And your answer?"

"Harold Fox, in first grade. He slobbered all over me."

"Because, just by his name, he sounds like a winner."

"Shut up! He was cute! He had this little twinkle in his blue eyes. I thought he could be my Prince Charming for my Princess themed birthday party." She leaned back in thought. "Hmm, I think he's gay now."

Flipped.

"Tails. First time you _thought_ you were in love."

"Ah, I see what you did there. Betsy Martha. She was older and came by my father's lumber mill for wood. She was beautiful. I ate her on one of the first nights I became a vampire."

Caroline balanced the coin on her thumb but didn't flip it. She paused, looking at him with a question in her mind. But then, perhaps, it was the trick of the light or the latest of the hour, but she could have sworn he shook his head back and forth with a centimeter of motion.

"Are you going to flip it or what?"

Perhaps it was just her imagination.

Flipped.

"Tails. Would you tell me the absolute truth if I asked you something?"

Damon's mouth twitched.

"Yes."

"Why—,"

"It's not your turn yet," he said, eyeing the coin. She tossed it into the air.

"Heads."

"Why did you break up with Matt?"

His eyes held no intention of malice. His mouth was not twisted into a sneer. He wanted to know. Caroline pulled her knees up to her chin, averting her eyes. She remembered her anger and sadness during the time of their break-up. She had never felt more alone. Both her mother and her boyfriend hated her for something she had no control over. She didn't know what was happening to her, much less how to deal with heartbreak. That was when she decided to not be at the mercy of anyone ever again.

"Because I wanted to kill him. I wanted to rip into him and drink him dry. I've never been more disgusted with myself." She suddenly lifted her head, looking at him inquisitively. "Is that why you're an ass all the time? It's your way of dealing with sadness and rejection and on top of it, this desire to eat the face off the dude next to you."

Damon nearly grinned.

"That . . . among other things. When did you put your Wisdom Hat on?"

She narrowed her eyes. "It's been on for a while now. You've just been too interested in _other things_ to notice . . . how much I've grown."

Damon visibly swallowed. He stood up and walked into the shadows of the hole. His shoulders were taught with tension. When he spoke, his voice wavered.

"Caroline, I'm sorry."

Maybe she had been too harsh. "No, Damon, it was a fair question. We're trying to be truthful after all."

"No— I mean, yes, that— but that's not what I'm saying." He shook his head, startled and frustrated. He tried again. "What I'm trying to get at is— you don't deserve me." He sighed, closing his eyes. "You didn't deserve this. And I mean the proverbial, _this_. What my brother and I did to you, to Elena, to this town— we turned our war into yours. If he had— if I had just left, you'd still be alive. You wouldn't have the scars from my fangs on your skin. You could have married Matt. I would have just been your nightmare that went away by morning. I didn't hold the pillow to your face but I may have well killed you myself. And for that, I apologize. From the very bottom of my heart."

He turned his face away from her. She stood up and went to him.

"I hated you for a long, _long_ time, Damon Salvatore." She looked at him, staring him down as he focused on the floor, leaning away as if she were screaming. "I hated you for what you did to me. Emotionally, physically, mentally. Maybe that was the worse. You made me feel so, so pathetic, there were times I couldn't look myself in the mirror. And then I died and suddenly—," she blinked as though seeing clearly, "—suddenly, _my perfect plan_ became useless. It wasn't me who was pathetic. It was this construction of a perfect world I had in my head. This belief that because I was pretty and cute, I could have anything. You showed me that death doesn't discriminate and I hated you for it."

The coin's power compelled her. She felt truth rush to her tongue.

"Now I don't know what to do with myself. My friends are weak. I don't mean to sound cruel or uncompassionate, but they're just human. They're frail, and mortal. I might never know what it feels like to die— and Elena will." Damon was motionless. "And Matt. And Tyler. And my mom. One by one, I get to watch them drop like flies. So why do I get eternity? Why do I get a thousand years to get it right? Because I was broken in the first place." Damon's face paled, his eyes crying _stop_. But he let her continue. "I'd like to believe everything happens for a reason. And my reason is to prove that I'm not a kiddy pool. But what if I'm doing it wrong?" She shrugged, temporarily glancing into his eyes. "The night I came to you, I nearly killed my father. I thought I had and I was okay with it because he told me I hadn't changed. That I was still desperate Caroline, and that scared me more than anything else in the world. I've got an eternity on my hands and what if I spend it being someone I hate? That's the truth, Damon, and this is the most honest I've ever been."

He stepped forward again, every detail of his posture, his face, his lips answering the call for comfort. He took her in his arms, his head bent to kiss her—

But she pulled away. She looked up at him through her long eyelashes. "Flipped." She said. "Tails. My turn. Why do you love Elena?"

He sighed, a shy smile tugging at his lips. "And the question of the night is . . ." He wove a finger through her curls. "I don't know. But I can't shake the happiness I felt when I first saw her. I hadn't felt like that for over a hundred years, not since—,"

He tried to pull away but she wrapped her arms around his waist, under his jacket and held him tight. He was still before leaning his cheek on her head. "Not since Katherine, I guess. Did Stefan ever tell you the story of how we became vampires? I thought Katherine was going to turn me, and only me, and when I found out she was dead, and he was alive— I couldn't take it. Stefan was always Father's favorite but when Katherine came into town, it didn't seem to matter. She loved me and for a while, that's what got me through knowing she was also interested in Stefan. I just always thought it would be me— or eventually me." He put his arms around her and, perhaps not consciously, he began to sway back and forth, as though dancing with her. "Did he ever tell you that he forced me to turn? I was ready to die but he just gave me this girl and— I couldn't help myself." She felt his back muscles tighten and she held him tighter. "I had eternity to do anything and the first hundred years I spent torturing my brother for taking my humanity away. I was willing to do it for Katherine, but I was alone, and hurt and then— this other person took over. This angry person that hated so deeply, eternity wasn't long enough to hold a grudge. But this person could survive, so I let him."

He suddenly stopped swaying and he looked up from the hole into the dark sky. The moon spilled like water down his nose, his jaw and down his throat.

"For over a hundred years, love has been nothing more than an obsession for me. To find the shreds of my humanity. And I'm scared to know what else it could be." He looked down at Caroline, the entirety of his being exposed. "I'm not sure if I want to know what love— real love— would do to me."

"But isn't that the secret?" She asked softly. "You have to find someone that makes the idea of overwhelming love, not so—overwhelming. Love doesn't have to be painful, Damon."

He looked away from her, his hair falling over his eyes. "But that's the problem. That's all I've ever known."

She put a gentle hand on his face, turning it back to her. "Well, we've got an eternity and a half to show you something different."

He stared at her, the uncertainty of the future suddenly becoming a reality.

_Where do we go from here?_

She went on her toes and gently, with the softest breath, her lips brushed his. When she leaned back, his eyes were closed. "Whatever happens tomorrow," he murmured, his eyes still shut, "I'm glad we had tonight."

"Me too."

He took her hand and led her to the side of the hole. Without speaking, he took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. He sat down, dragging her on top of him. He put one arm behind his head, and as she settled and put her head on his chest, the other fell around her waist. Together, they watched the stars and waited for morning.

* * *

><p>"Caroline. Caroline. Caroline, wake up."<p>

She woke to the sound of her name being called from his lips. She started but he gently stroked her hair, easing her back onto his chest.

"Caroline, I don't know if I should have let you sleep, or what. But I'm pretty sure you would have kicked my ass if I didn't tell you."

She raised her head, smiling, but his solemn expression drew the smile away like the flick of a feather. His eyes flashed over her head. She whirled around.

Sunlight was slowly filling the cavern. It was mid-morning. By noon, the entire grave would be bathing in sunlight.

Caroline shuddered as she remembered the agony of sunlight. Damon sat up, pulling her closer. Their shoulders rested against the wall of the cavern. Suddenly, tears welled in her eyes. She looked away from the approaching sunlight.

"Damn," she sniffed. "Quick, tell me the story of Braveheart."

Damon paused and then chuckled. "The Mel Gibson movie?"

"Yeah," she said, trying with all her might to keep the tears off her cheeks. "I'm trying to picture midgets in kilts. It's funny."

"But there were no midgets in that movie."

"But something funny keeps me from crying." She laughed but it was no good. The laugh turned into a sob and the tears were set free.

"Hey, hey," Damon murmured. He pulled her into his lap, her legs straddling his waist. She sobbed into his neck. His hand stroked her hair. "Shh, don't cry. It'll—,"

"Don't lie, Damon." She held his t-shirt in her fist. "It's not going to be okay."

"I can't lie with you, Caroline." He leaned back and took her face in his hands. "Let me tell you something. Sometimes, I close my eyes and all I can see is you that morning. In my white shirt, sitting scared and worried on my bed. Scared that someone would find out about us, about last night. You had just showered and you smelled like peppermint. At the time, I didn't think you needed to hear it but I remember thinking, God, you're beautiful. If I die with that image in my head, well," he cleared away a stray hair, smiling faintly, "I can't think of a better way to go."

She sniffed and held his hand to her face. "Thank you, Damon, for making me strong."

He kissed her forehead. "You were always strong. You just needed someone to open the door."

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him and they both turned to watch the sunlight creep closer and closer.

And closer it came. It slithered like a snake, inch by inch, carrying poison lethal to only the immortal. Soon it forced Damon to lean away, to put his hands around Caroline's waist. It forced him to bring his legs together, pulling them off to the side. Soon they were pressed tightly into the dirt wall. Their skin was hidden, if only to give them a few more seconds. And then the sunlight moved by seconds, until Caroline could no longer see shadow on his other side. She felt his breath in her ear. Their hands were clasped tightly.

"As Caroline Forbes, it feels wrong to go out in a blaze without a final last word." She looked up and found he was already looking at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but he closed it with a kiss, a deep kiss that made her head spin.

"Don't." His lips whispered against her own. "I already know what you're going to say."

And then in her Caroline grin, she asked, "cocky much?" Damon gave a small laugh, shaking his head.

Then came the sound of burning flesh. His elbow was caught in the sunlight. He grimaced, his jaw clenched. Shaking, she put her own hand over his elbow. Immediately her own skin began to burn.

"Ow!" She cried. They grabbed each other tighter. The sunlight moved, over her arm and across his shoulder. She felt like she was slowly being lowered into bubbling lava, and the pain was mounting. It rose across her face, blistering it with third degree burns. She whimpered. Damon groaned. Now they were drowned in the weightless fire. They were completely exposed to the sun. Their skin sizzled and cracked. Smoke rose like gas in a sauna. Caroline's cry rose to a scream and then a shriek. Finally Damon screamed as their bodies burned.

And then—

* * *

><p>Hope ya'll liked it! Review!<p>

Haha, just kidding, ya'll. There's another chapter.

What would ya'll do if this was the end of the update? Trolololol


	14. Chapter 14: Resolve

**Chapter 14: Resolve**

* * *

><p>They were covered in shadow. They fell away from each other, gasping, the proximity to another hot object absolutely stifling. Caroline was on her knees, panting. Her skin was bright red and dry. It ached and burned as though she had run a marathon in the desert. She looked over and saw Damon rubbing the dirt from the walls on his skin. Without thinking, Caroline joined him, desperate for anything to stop the pain. To her tremendous surprise, the dirt was cool, having minute traces of water inside them. She smeared it onto her skin with glee. When her arms were covered in the mud, she suddenly paused and looked over at Damon. He was still applying the mud but immediately felt her eyes on him and glanced up.<p>

_Oh my God, we're alive._

His eyes were shinning through the mud. He slowly extended one hand and she went to him, her head bent back, and his head leaning forward— so close—

"Damon, Caroline, are you guys okay?"

They blinked. It was Stefan's voice. She looked up and saw a large blanket covering the mouth of the grave.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he called again. Suddenly the world outside of Damon and the grave came rushing back. In that world lived Matt and Elena and Bonnie and Tyler and her mom, her dad and that world was dying because the dead had come back to feast on the flesh of the living. She looked at Damon. He was still staring at the blanket, dumbfounded. She knew when she spoke, this momentary disconnect from the world of pain and regret would be gone. She would return to real life. The one that didn't include being a part of Damon's love life, unless being a footnote could be anything other than pathetic. Sighing, she stepped away from him, her fingertips running down his arms for the last time. They ran across his open palm and unconsciously, his hand went to close around hers but she pulled it away in time.

"Yeah, Stefan, we're okay." Caroline called. "But neither one of us have our rings so unless you got sun block 9000—,"

The blanket lifted and two stones were tossed down. But when they landed on the ground, Caroline realized it was their rings. Damon grinned as he put his on.

"I have never been happier to hear your voice, little brother. Do I even want to know how you got these back?"

"I'll explain on the way back." His voice sounded urgent. A second later a rope tumbled down the side of the grave. Caroline shrugged off Damon's jacket and gave it back to him without a backwards glance. She went forward to the rope, grabbed it and began to pull herself out of the hole that was nearly her deathbed.

* * *

><p><em>Quiet but I'm sure there is something here <em>

_Tell me everything cause I want to hear_

_Is this all we get to be absolute?_

* * *

><p>*AN: This is the crux of Daroline. I truly believe the animosity between Stefan and Damon comes from the fact that Stefan was also Katherine's choice and was Turned as well. Even further, he forced him to become a vampire. And so to survive the heartbreak of rejection and abandonment, he became this angry, sarcastic person. He's in love with Elena because she is his only connection to being human. In his mind, if he wins her over, then he wins out again Stefan AND this horrible person can still be loved. He pushes people away because he wants someone to see passed all the bitterness to this lonely, tired man. He wants Elena to see through it, but I don't think she can. She would fall in love with the angry Damon when he is just being sweet. He needs someone to love him— all of him, instead of just one part— the good and the bad.

Caroline can be that person, because she's experienced this dual nature within her as well. As she grows as a character, she realizes that this other person she was, as a human, was— well— a pretty ugly person. She's disgusted by it and wants to remove herself from the memory, but since EVERYONE is constantly reminding her of that person, she's frustrated and angry. Damon used to see her this way, but now, she's obviously different and he is blown away by her, by both her true beauty and strong character.

Damon wants to be the person he once was. Caroline wants nothing to do with her old self. Hopefully, they'll meet somewhere in the middle.

Also, just so you all know, I really don't check facts for this fanfic. I don't think microbes have anything to do with norepinephrine, or if there's a town called Charleston anywhere near Virginia. It's not relevant to the story and I think you get my drift. All I'm saying is don't use the information you find here for a Biology or Geography quiz.

Reviews are my life-blood and just a little blurb would mean LOTS. Thank you guys!


	15. Chapter 15: Are You There, God?

_*A/N Sorry for all the trouble with the uploading!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: Are you there, God? It's me, Caroline.<strong>

_In her shoes, Caroline's toes curled. Come on, Forbes, hold it together._

* * *

><p>Stefan grabbed her shoulders and helped pull her out of the hole. She rolled, coughing. The sun beat down on her skin, without causing pain, and she glanced at the ring. She had nearly died— they had nearly died— because she didn't want to fight it anymore. Because she wanted one perfect night with him. She sat up, shaking her head.<p>

"Wow, Stefan, I can't believe this. How—,"

He silently pressed a thin finger to his lips as he pulled his brother out of the hole. As Damon shook the dirt from his hair, Stefan pointed over the ridge. The tent was still set up and workers continued to walk in and out of it. But there were guards, everywhere. Caroline felt her heart leap into her throat.

Stefan tapped her shoulder and nodded to the trees. She hopped to her feet and followed the brothers at a crouch. Something in her jacket pocket knocked against her hand. She reached inside and felt the vial from Bonnie. It had survived the night.

"Hey," she hissed. The brothers stopped and looked. Damon rolled his eyes as Stefan looked worried, his eyes searching for anyone watching them. Then finally he nodded. Caroline bit her lip and her arm tightening back with all her vampire strength, she turned and launched the vial towards the tent. None of them stopped to watch it land.

Caroline saw the car through the trees when the shockwave from the explosion knocked her onto the ground. She threw her hood over her head as hot air, sticks and stones flew like missiles over them. She felt the rocks draw nicks of blood on her skin as they whistled by. A massive oak next to her cracked and fell over. The air smelled of rain. She sat up and looked around. Damon was covered underneath a branch and Stefan was covered in dust. She didn't even want to think about the state of her hair.

"You think they notice that?" Damon asked as he tossed the branch away.

"Let's not stick around to find out." Stefan said as they hurried to the car, leapt in and drove off.

* * *

><p>"So what's going on?" Caroline asked from the back seat. She leaned forward, her blonde head poking in between the two seats. "How did you find us?"<p>

"Alaric said you two had gone out to the place in Charleston and when you hadn't come back, we figured something had gone wrong. But without the map we didn't know exactly where you were." He glanced suspiciously at Damon. "Your idea, I'm sure."

"I was in Action Guy mode. Well-thought out plans of return are rarely interesting." Damon said with his usual air of contempt, but the humor didn't reach his eyes. He seemed intent on staying focused on the road.

"Clearly." Stefan said, shaking his head. Caroline felt an indiscernible rise in tension.

She rolled her eyes. "Guys, back to your own corners. Personally, I'd like to thank Stefan for saving our asses. Damon, you should to."

"You're welcome," Stefan replied but without his usual soft tone he used when he spoke with Caroline. His mouth was pulled into a tight line. "But we've needed you. Things haven't gotten any better."

"It's not like we were out getting our nails done!" Damon snapped. He was suddenly on the offensive. Caroline's chest tightened. She knew why. She could feel it too. "We went out to try and take Klaus down a notch and we hit a snag. Thank God, King Stefan was there to save the day."

Stefan watched his brother with hesitation, as if there was something beating on his lips. But instead he leaned back in his chair, gazing out the window. His brown eyes flickered to the rearview mirror, considering looking into it but decided against it.

"What?" Damon grumbled.

"Nothing." He said simply, with an edge of something. "I'm glad you two helped."

Caroline felt a flash of his blue eyes on her but she wouldn't dare look.

"How's Elena?" She asked in a small voice.

"She's holding on. Barely."

Damon floored the gas and the engine roared.

* * *

><p>It was late at night when the old Camero drove up the Salvatore manor. The conversation had died out during the trip, leaving Caroline to analyze every detail about the previous night. She didn't dare look at Damon, for fear of what she would see in his eyes. The more she thought and the longer she considered his acceptance into death as a sign that she was nothing more than a body to hold to waste the hours. She was grimly surprised that he didn't try and cope a feel; there were easier and more athletic ways to pass the time.<p>

If there had ever been a night to make something happen— something more than flirty banter and something to beat up on when he was angry— it would have been last night, and since nothing like that had happened, then nothing was going to.

Maybe she had been elevated to 'friend' status. Maybe he'd stop treating her like fodder fuel when Elena was endanger. Maybe things would be different and this gnawing, painful ache inside of her would just— go away.

Damon turned off the car and got out, Stefan following close. Caroline slammed the door shut behind her with an obvious amount of extra force.

Damon glanced over his shoulder, but it was Stefan who raised an eyebrow. "Car-sick, Caroline?"

_Sick? Maybe a little. Heartbroken? More or less_.

"Nope, Stefan, I'm fine," Caroline said with a bright smile. He returned it with a sad, softer one and went inside. His brother, however, refused to look anywhere else but the steps ahead.

Alaric and Ms. Forbes greeted them from the living room. Her mother's face changed through about five shades of red before she settled on dark chartreuse.

"Caroline— Elizabeth— Forbes—," she began, her teeth clenched together.

"Mom—,"

"Where— have— you— been?"

"Mom, please—,

"Caroline!"

"We went out to try and stop Klaus." Damon interjected. Liz Forbes snapped to face him. "There was a place outside of Charleston that had activity and we went to shut it down. Obviously, there was a little hitch when his goons dropped us into a hole and left us to shrivel. But Queen Stefanie helped us out. The only drawback was having to spend eight hours twiddling our fingers with nothing to do."

He smiled his charming smile, effortlessly putting Liz at ease. But it made Caroline's skin prickle. She looked away. She just missed Damon's eyes as they grazed her.

Liz sighed, rubbing her face, before she took Caroline gently by the arm. "You're okay, right? No bites? No scraps?"

"Yep," Caroline lied through her teeth. "I'm fine."

Alaric's dark eyes hadn't missed a single exchange. "And Damon, you're good?"

Damon's skin stretched back over his teeth in a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Peachy keen, Ricky Boy."

At that moment, Jeremy came out of one of the back room. "Guys, we need a plan. I don't know—,"he caught sight of the scene, and smelled the tension plastered up against the walls. "Everything alright in here?"

Damon and Caroline looked at the ground. Stefan nodded, stepping forward.

"Yep, nothing important. What's up?"

"Matt's just finishing up with Bonnie. Tyler's waiting—,"

"What do you mean, finishing with Bonnie?" Caroline asked.

"Bonnie figured that it wasn't necessarily Elena's body that was getting weak, it was her life force. It explains why the bodies would come back to life— their human life force was drained and replaced with something way worse. So she's been taking life force from us to give to her. It's like donating blood."

"And because we're dead we couldn't do anything, right?" Damon asked numbly.

"I've asked that, believe me." Stefan said, staring at the ceiling.

"Even if we were here, we couldn't have done anything." Caroline asked quietly.

Jeremy frowned. "No, not really. Maybe kept on the look-out but what you probably did helped in the long run."

Caroline bit her tongue to withhold the sigh of relief.

"But seriously, I think we need to get more food. We're running low." Jeremy continued, glancing from each sorrowful face. "I was wondering if I could take Tyler and Matt out to see what we could find."

Alaric nodded when there came no answer. "Take weapons and pack light. Come back before dawn."

Jeremy nodded and turned back to get the boys. Liz gently took Caroline by the arm. "Come on, sweetie. It's late, we should get some sleep."

Caroline nodded dumbly, but as she turned, something bright blue caught her eye and she paused. "Um, you go on ahead, Mom. There's something I need to do first."

Damon watched her as she stalked passed him and up into the hallway that led to Elena's door.

* * *

><p>Caroline took a breath, her whole body trembling. She reached for the handle. It was cold and sharp beneath her clammy palm. She felt the walls tighten around her and suddenly her clothes were too stiff, too close. The door was suddenly very far away . . .<p>

She shook her head, clearing away tension and entered the room.

Elena lay on a cot in the center of the room. Her hands clasped in reverence of the death that surrounded her. She was pale, her skin alabaster and cold. When Caroline reached to touch her, her fingers were frozen. They were tinged blue. But her lips, they were bright red. It was as if the disease was retreating inside of her, pulling away from the ends to concentrate in her very core. Bonnie's spell had kept the fever from spreading, as though her blood had been placed on ice. She breathed, but only just. On the bridge between death and sleep, Elena Gilbert straddled the Abyss, the footing crackling and her soul fading with every breath.

A solitary chair stood by the bed, a throne to the despaired and disillusioned. Caroline helped herself to it eagerly, before finding her hands far too dull. She glanced at Elena. With her lips bright red and her skin nearly translucent, Caroline couldn't help remember their eighth birthday party when they were all different princesses. Elena, of course, was Snow White. She, like all the girls of their age, was waiting for her prince to wake her up. Within a flicker of memory, Caroline realized that it was that party that she wanted Harold Fox to be her Prince Charming.

Damon's laughter was the sound of a ghost in her mind.

Bright lips. Light skin. She was there. Now Caroline couldn't run. She couldn't push her away. The walls felt tight again.

"It's cold in here, isn't it?" Caroline muttered. Nobody answered.

Caroline readjusted the blanket over Elena's chest She didn't look any warmer.

"So, there's nothing really new on TV. The weather's been pretty gross. I don't know if politics matter any more. I don't know if the government is still standing." Caroline looked at her hands. "Small talk is kind of hard to do when there's only one talker, you know. And I've run out of the three safety topics in the first five minutes. What to do now? Can I braid your hair?" Caroline let out a small laugh, but again the red lips made the laugh freeze in her throat.

"Look, you know I blabber when I'm nervous and you can probably guess why I'm a little nervous." Caroline stood up and began to pace. "I mean, death to the left, to the right. Stefan is about a hair's breath away from going to pieces and I can't really blame him. If you looked at yourself in the mirror, you totally would flip!" Bright lips. "Um, okay, Jeremy's not doing so well either. I think he just needs to punch something. And Bonnie, I don't know how she's hold on. She's crazy strong. Like never piss her off strong."

Caroline sat down, begging her friend to hear, to just wake up. Tears welled up in her soft eyes.

"Elena—Damon, he's barely holding on and if you don't make it, _he_ won't make it._ I_ won't make it!"

The tears were coming in streams now.

"You have to know. I don't know why it has to be now, or how I'm going to say this, but you need to know. I slept with Damon. We were late coming back the other night because we had both given up on everything and God— I just wanted him to hold me and lie and say that everything was going to be fine and it wasn't! I was going to die and I was okay because for once in years I didn't hate myself! I was so happy I didn't want it to end! And I was happy because Damon— he—,"

Caroline caught herself, the words tight and hot, nearly stifling. She wanted to fold in on herself and vanish. She just wanted to see him again.

"I'm sorry. I really messed it up. I messed up our relationship, yours and Damon's— if there was anything. I've been too caught up with a boy to save my best friend from dying. The only person that's never stopped being my friend even though I've been horrible for years, and I feel like I've cheated on you. So this is how I, the new Caroline, thank my best friend. If you wake up, I promise I'll do better. I promise to be there for your and Stefan's wedding. And for your first house, and car, and everything that comes with having a vampire boyfriend—er, husband. I'll give you my blessing one thousand times over, but Elena you HAVE to wake up!"

Forcefully ignoring the biting cold of her hands, Caroline grabbed Elena and put a hand to her face.

"Please, Elena. Be here. I haven't been the person I should and I need to show you that I'm different." She sighed, her whole body shivering. "You need to wake up so you can tell me what to do. What should I do about Damon? You should have seen him the other night— he was this completely different person—no, that's not right. That was really who he is. This other person, the one we met, even Damon doesn't like him. But Damon, he's in pain, in a lot of pain. And I want to help him. So maybe that's it." She sniffed, and nodded, her mind finding a resolution. "I'll help him, but nothing more. I don't know what he wants, but I know it's not me. So instead of just hoping, waiting, I'll do what I can. I'll help him win you over. I'll be the best wingman ever." She smiled, tears still falling. "So this is me saying goodbye to Damon. So, now, you have to come back, so he can sweep you off your feet. I'll be there, cheering you on, who ever you decide. But if it is Damon, be good to him."

Caroline bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "I wish you both well." She let out a slow breath and put a strand of hair behind her friend's ear. Then she turned to leave the room, but as soon as she opened the door, she ran straight into Damon. He looked sad before his face suddenly shifted into a mask of blankness.

"Your mother's been wondering when you're coming to bed." He wouldn't exactly meet her eyes. She was too tired to play this game.

"How much of that did you hear?"

His eyes brightened in surprise, but his mouth curled into a soft smirk. "No getting past you, is there? I didn't hear much but my name was thrown around a couple of times. What were you telling little Elena?"

"She's all yours." Caroline said resiliently. His smile faded.

"What?"

"I'm not stupid, Damon." Caroline said airily. "Whatever I thought of last night doesn't matter. It's all about you, and Elena. I'm sure you've had a thousand of those nights with a thousand different girls and I'm sure the others ended more enjoyably. I know you didn't think of anything of it, but you can be very sweet when you want to be."

Damon blinked. In her shoes, Caroline's toes curled. _Come on, Forbes, hold it together_. He looked abnormally pale, nearly placid. Unwanted and unbidden, the thought of his hand around her waist as they looked at the sky haunted her skin and she looked away.

He blinked as though he had been hit over the head with something thick.

"Caroline—,"

"I told her I wouldn't get in the way of you and her ever again. I'll be there to support her decision, who ever it is."

All softness within him had been erased. His eyes were as sharp as razors and his voice was harsh, jagged like glass. "Good. Finally. I'm glad you finally came to your senses."

"You're welcome."

She returned his steely glare and walked away. Damon waited until he was sure she was out of earshot before he turned and punched a clear hole in the nearby wall.

* * *

><p>Caroline left her mother's bedroom early that morning. She had fallen asleep on the loveseat, not undressing or really finding a comfortable spot. She slept because her body needed rest, not because she wanted to. Now that it was a new day, there was no need to force sleep.<p>

She changed quickly, silently and moved out into the living room.

And she ran into no one. There was no Alaric to run into, no Matt to hug, no Stefan to comfort. No Damon to—

There was no smell of coffee, no smell of bacon. No eggs, or toast, or the chink of plates. If Caroline hadn't walked out of her mother's room no less than five minutes ago, she would have felt utterly and completely alone.

She stared out the massive bay windows. There was no rustle of leaves in the trees, or scratch of wind against the house. The world, once full of life and noise and creatures, was gone. It was fading. The existence of life was fading, she could see that now. Everything was perfectly still, perfectly quiet. Someone had taken a picture of the Salvatore house and pasted it over her eyes. This was all simply a mirage.

What exactly gave her the confidence to turn back down the hallway, she'll never know.

It was only when she opened the door to her father's room, slumped into the chair next to his bed, Caroline finally fell into a harsh sleep.

* * *

><p>She woke up sometime later to Bonnie shaking her shoulder. Her brown eyes were full of worry.<p>

"Caroline, what are you doing here?"

Caroline shook her away. "I just— ended up here." She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I came by to give him his dosage of life force." Matt waved from behind her.

Caroline stood up as Matt took the seat next to his bed. Bonnie put both hands over his head. "Relax."

Soft beams emanated from his chest and flowed up into her hands. With a soft sigh, she extended a hand over Bill Forbes and the energy passed into his body. By two minutes, Matt had grown pale and so Bonnie stopped, handing him a cup of blue water on the table.

"Thank you," Caroline said softly to Matt.

"Gotta do my part, you know?" He smiled at her.

Bill Forbes sat straight up, gasping and spluttering. His eyes were wide, his skin waxy and wet. He shivered, panting in horror as he stared around the room.

"Where am I?" He demanded.

Caroline could only stare in shock. Bonnie immediately flew in. "It's alright, Mr. Forbes. You're somewhere safe!"

He blinked, sweat rolling down his tinged skin. "Why, what's, what's happening?"

"Sir, you've been bitten." Bonnie sat down, her mouth in a serious line.

"What?" His blurry eyes finally focused as the news made some impact.

"You've been bitten by a Diseased. You're sick, very sick, but we're trying to help you."

His brow furrowed and he squeezed his eyes shut, as if to wake up from a bad dream. And then his eyes snapped open again, immediately meeting with Caroline's own.

"Klaus."

"Uh, should I go get Stefan and Damon?" Matt asked unsure. Caroline and her father were still locked in a gaze. Bonnie glanced worriedly between the pair.

"Yeah, Matt, go get them." He bounced out of the room without a moment's hesitation.

"What can you tell us about Klaus?" Caroline asked in a deadly tone. Bill blinked at her, searching her face for some sort of emotion, but she gave him no quarter. "I'm going to repeat the question, what can you tell me about Klaus?"

Bill swallowed, his throat raw. "Dr. Simmons is here in Mystic Falls. Klaus is in Virginia, somewhere close by, but I don't know where. I heard something about a base of operations in Charleston. Charleston was very important."

Bonnie glanced at Caroline but she didn't look away from her father.

"You did something, didn't you?" Bill asked with certainty. "You attacked. Which means he knows that you know how to fight back. Now he's on the offensive."

The longer he spoke, the less of a grasp on reality he had.

"There are spies all around," he said, his voice light. "He keeps numbers, everywhere, numbers of people. Of those back and forth and up and down and those dead and alive and dead. He knows. That's how he found me." He sounded eager now. "He brought be back to the lab to get your secrets. He wanted to know what made you special."

"You son of a bitch." Caroline growled. "You're going to get us all killed!"

"But he said he could fix you. He could help you." Bill said dejectedly. "That's all I've ever wanted."

Caroline looked at the ground, suddenly very tired. This was all a massive mistake. She should have just stayed in her room.

Somehow her voice found reason. "What's his final goal?"

Bill leaned back into the pillows, worried. "He never said. He's expecting you to find that out. He thinks your research efforts are impressive. He's expecting a lot from you, Bonnie." Bill's head swiveled to the witch and stared at her through owl eyes. "He knows you won't look for him. He knows your greatest strength is in each other, that each of you are willing to lay your life on the line for your friends and family. He's going to use that to kill you all."

She wanted to be held. She wanted to imagine Damon's arms around her, but she knew that wasn't possible any more. She wanted someone but there was a cold wind sliding down her back and she knew that was no longer an option any more.

From very far away, Caroline heard a crash, a blow of glass. And then something, nearly indiscernible filled the air. There were footsteps in the hall.

"Matt, what's taking so long?"

The moment he entered the room, his face pale white and his heart pounding, Caroline knew something was wrong.

Horribly. Horribly wrong.

"Fire." He said.

* * *

><p><em>*AN: So so so so sorry for the late update! I know it's been awhile and I don't think its even Friday any more. But here it is! I was going to wait until I got the second chapter up and ready but the second chapter just isn't there. So hopefully I can get my shit together and post the next one tomorrow! Hope you like it! And omg, all the Daroline feels from the last episode! He said her name!_

_Oh my God, my shipper heart. _


	16. Chapter 16: Divided, We Fall

**Chapter 16: Divided, We Fall.**

_She felt sweat run down her face in thick clumps, their weight intensified with mixings of ash and smoke. She felt her makeup run. The heat was stifling._

* * *

><p>"What do you mean?" Caroline asked, rising to her feet.<p>

"The living room is on fire." Matt said, his voice hoarse. "I can't find anyone. I think we're under attack."

"Have you seen any Diseased?" Bonnie asked sharply.

"No, but I can smell something rotten."

Caroline heard Bonnie's heart skip a beat. Immediately the witch leapt over to the other side of the room and started shoveling books into her bag.

"What? What's going on?" Bill asked from the bed.

"We're under attack. Klaus is making his move." Bonnie said sharply. "Can you stand?"

He blinked. "I—I think so." Matt went over to Bill, but Caroline didn't move.

"We should let you die," she said harshly. Matt's blue eyes widened.

"Caroline! He's your dad!"

"You wouldn't say those things if you knew what he's done to me."

Matt glanced worriedly from Caroline to her father and backed away.

"I was just trying to help you." He said weakly.

"You hurt me more than being a vampire ever has." Her eyes glittered. "I should leave you here to rot. But I won't. Because I'm better than that."

Bill leaned back in the pillows, sighing. "No. I want you to. If you truly believe that I haven't helped you, then there's no point in trying any more. I can't live with having my daughter think of me that way."

Caroline shifted, her sudden shell of hatred cracking. She glanced at Bonnie.

The witch shrugged. "It's your choice, Caroline."

Caroline looked at her father again. "You do realize if we leave you here, you'll die."

"If I can't save you, then I would rather be dead."

She didn't know if it was a compliment or meant to cause pain but her chest tightened all the same.

"Caroline, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Matt asked, clearly unnerved.

"No. But we don't have time."

Bonnie stood up and put a hand to Bill's face. There was a soft spark and he passed out. "Now he'll just go in his sleep." Her jaw was set but her eyes were clear, resolved. "I'm sorry, Caroline, but that man wasn't your father."

"I think he believed he was." Caroline said softly. "We need to go."

* * *

><p>Huge puffs of smoke billowed from under the door leading to the living room. Caroline glanced over her shoulder to Matt and Bonnie, their sleeves covering their mouths, their fearful eyes watering. A sharp knot rising in her throat, Caroline turned and kicked through the door.<p>

Great flames licked the ceiling, scalding the tapestries to a black char. Chairs crumbled and hissed as the fire ate them into oblivion. She heard moving and from the flaming couch, she saw three Diseased rose up, moaning. More came in from the side.

"Get out!" Caroline ordered. "I'll find everyone!"

One lunged at her, but it stumbled and its head exploded. Bonnie lowered her hands. Matt pierced another with a fallen piece of wood.

"We need to keep the door away open!" Bonnie yelled. "You get the others! Hurry!"

Caroline caught her friend's eye, and saw the fire blazing there. "Go!" She screamed.

Caroline sprinted off into the flames, the heat licking her skin. She bolted into kitchen, pots and pans littering the ground. The wooden cabinets shriveled, the island burning brightly. Through the darkness outside she saw frail hands beating on the glass. The dead waited to feed. A horrible hand finally managed to shatter a window. She could hear their groans above the roar of the flames.

She turned and raced into the hallways. She heard no sounds of life, no heartbeat. Praying it was the burning that kept her from hearing, she began kicking down the doors.

Fire.

Fire.

More fire.

She felt sweat run down her face in thick clumps, their weight intensified with mixings of ash and smoke. She felt her makeup run. The heat was stifling.

A door flew open and two dark shapes stumbled to the ground— Alaric and her mother.

"Caroline!" Liz yelped. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Are you guys okay?"

Liz nodded. "Alaric saved me."

"Everyone's meeting in the front. Bonnie and Matt are there now." The two nodded. "Don't go through the kitchen." Caroline added seriously. She caught Alaric's eyes and he knew. He pulled out a pistol from his pocket and handed another to Liz. "Be careful. I'll get there when I can."

Alaric pulled Liz down the hall before she started running with him. Caroline mentally told herself to forget the look of fear in her mother's eyes. Then she turned and bolted through the door they had just come.

It was another small study. The wooden desk was crackling, its drawers open and sad like a torn mouth. Books melted under the flames. The rugs on the floor rolled in on themselves.

And then she heard a scream. A painful scream. Her skin bristled, a sense of dread settling like a rock in her chest. She followed the noise and found herself in one of the old wings. A bar of flaming wood blocked her entrance into the room but she could still see the grotesque horror inside.

Damon had Tyler by the chest, yanking him away from a pile of Diseased consolidating around something in the center of the room. Their hands were bloody and their mouths were wet. A wall had been broken down and more stupidly tumbled in.

Tears were streaming down Tyler's eyes and the outstretched hand was shaking as the Diseased feasted.

"MOM!" He screamed.

Caroline felt tears well up in her eyes, a hand over her mouth.

"Tyler, come on!" Damon roared at him. "We need to go! We have to find the others!"

"No! I'm not leaving!"

"Well I'm not leaving you here!"

Caroline cleared her eyes and with a shaking sigh, she kicked through the flaming bar. Damon whipped around, his eyes bright with relief. The Diseased barely noticed her presence.

"Mom . . ." Tyler wailed softly, his struggle weakening. Damon watched her in quiet awe as she grabbed Tyler.

"Tyler," she whispered. "Let it go. Let her go." She gently stroked his hair. She felt his hot skin under her hands.

He looked up at her, his brown eyes heartbroken. "But she's my mom."

A hot wave swept into her throat. "I know. I'm sorry."

He nodded dumbly and she pulled him away. Damon picked up a slab of wood that yet to be touched by fire and used it as a bat as he led the way back out of the room. The ceiling was staring to come down.

"Everyone's out front," Caroline yelled to him as he kicked flaming furniture out of the way and cleared out the hallway. "We need to get there."

"Working on it." He decapitated a Diseased as it stumbled in front of one of the rooms.

The flames were brighter now, sharper, hotter. They crept in like scorching shadows, ruining everything in their path. As Damon broke through a pile of scalded ceiling, they reached the foyer. Bonnie held her hand up, keeping the flames at bay. Alaric stood by Matt, holding pieces of burnt furniture. Jeremy was lying on the floor, his leg twisted in such away that was both grotesque and unnatural. His face was screwed up in pain, and Liz was trying to cut away the burned cloth. She looked up from her spot on the floor.

"Where's Carol?" She asked as Caroline with Tyler and Damon entered the bubble.

Tyler fell onto all fours the moment Caroline let him go. He was shivering. Caroline watched him, her heart fluttering with agony. She shook her head. Liz gasped, her eyes glistening. Matt shifted uncomfortably.

There was a massive cracking sound above their heads and a fiery chunk of wood dislodged from the ceiling and fell towards them. Caroline screamed, covering her head. But it never came. Bonnie's bubble deflected it with ease. Caroline glanced at her friend. She seemed unfazed, but focused.

"If the building comes down, I don't know if I can hold it. Where are Stefan and Elena?"

"You mean no one's seen them?" Damon barked. Caroline jumped, shocked to find him directly behind her. She wondered when he'd gotten there.

"He went to go get her," Bonnie said firmly, but with an air of worry in her voice.

"Then where are they?" Damon demanded. He moved to leave the bubble, but Caroline grabbed his elbow.

"If you're leaving, I'm coming with you."

He gazed at her as though that was the most wonderful thing in the world and the worst. "Caroline, please—,"

"I'm coming with you," she repeated, a little more slowly.

And then a blow of fire roared in from the open hallways, bits of wood and glass flying everywhere. And from the very center of, two shapes emerged. One was running, holding the other. Caroline's heart leapt— they escaped.

Then, as the fire faded, darker shadows appeared. The shadows shifted and formed and conjoined.

Stefan leaped over a burning couch and zoomed towards them. He paused, shuddering. Elena's quiet face was smudge with ash. "Run," he gasped.

The doors burst down. Glass shattered. Dead feet dragged animated bodies through the fire, through broken glass and wood. Suddenly a hundred plus Diseased had flooded into the foyer.

Behind her, Liz screamed.

"Bonnie, get everyone out!" Damon ordered. Her hand failed as she shuffled backwards, her eyes bright with horror. "We'll give you guys ahead start. Stefan," the brothers locked eyes, "go with them."

Dark ash covered his face and he glanced from Elena to Damon. Finally he nodded. "Come on, let's go!"

Liz and Bonnie grabbed Jeremy by the shoulders, dragging him to his feet, and headed out the door. Matt looped an arm around Tyler, who was still fazed, and followed the girls.

Caroline lashed forward, punching through two heads. But where they fell, more swarmed forward, covering their tracks. Caroline leapt back. Two gunshots dropped others. Alaric lowered the pistol.

"What the hell are you doing, Rick?" Damon growled as he ripped through another wave. "Get out!"

"You guys can't take them on alone." He answered, firing through the coming row. "I'm here to help."

Caroline yanked a head from its neck and it tumbled. She dodged an open hand and she punched through the owner's head.

"Damon, we can't hold this up forever." She muttered.

"We just need to give them more time." He grabbed a body and chucked it into the center. It barely dented the herd. They moved forward, shuffling against the walls, coming closer and closer.

"Really? That's all you got?" Alaric smirked. He tossed a dagger into nearby Diseased. He unloaded a new round into their faces. "Damon, I'm not even scared."

The unnerved fear that Damon had been carrying on his face since Caroline found him in the wing cracked and he grinned. Alaric grinned back. "Your style is weak, Salvatore."

Above them, there was another loud bang and the whole house shuddered. Bits of fire rained down and they leapt back towards the door. A massive fiery block collapsed and immediately blocked the exit. Another strip of fire blocked the hoard from them, giving them a few minutes to think. They were too stupid to move around it, but it wouldn't hold the weight forever. Her heart was throbbing in her throat.

"What do we do?" Caroline shouted over the deafening noise. The herd surged forward, realizing the end was near. Damon's eyes were darting around the wall of fire, searching for a way out. The flames were rising. The moans of the dead were loud in her ears. "Damon!"

She heard the click of a gun behind them. Alaric was loading a new round. Damon frowned, a sudden fear in his eyes.

"What are you doing, Rick? You can't blast through that!"

"I'm not blasting through that. I'm blasting through _that_." He pointed at the coming undead. "You guys can get through the fire and heal. I'll only slow you down."

Caroline glanced from Damon to Alaric as his plan finally settled in. "Wait, _what?_ Rick, are you crazy!"

"That's my line!" Damon snapped, a note of panic in his voice. "_What the hell?_"

"You know this is the only way, Damon." Rick said stiffly. His eyes were sad, begging for his friend to understand.

"No, Rick, it isn't!" Damon snarled. "When the hell did you get suicidal?"

Alaric sighed and lifted up his shirt. His stomach was bleeding, a clear bite mark disfiguring his skin. Damon blanched. Caroline gasped, tears suddenly dripping down her face.

"I'd rather go out like this than fade away." He whispered. He lowered his shirt and cocked the gun. "What would you do, Damon?"

"Rick—," his voice cracked.

"Please. Tell them I died a hero." Alaric said, his voice strained. "Take care of Jeremy, and tell Elena to be strong, when she wakes up. Tell them both thank you. They've been more of a family than I ever expected."

"Rick, please don't do this." Caroline murmured, tears racking her face.

Alaric gave a small smile. "And good luck to you. The both of you. You might be blind to it, but I'm not. You two have something special and you can't let pride get in the way of it. Be good to him, Caroline, he's going to need it."

Ahead of her, Damon's taught shoulders shivered.

The flaming barrier between them and the undead cracked and they moaned louder.

"Good luck."

Alaric turned, brandishing the gun. He fired into a pit of the Diseased, and then into the barrier. It broke and grabbing one of the fallen pieces of wood, he beat back the others before disappearing into one of the hallways. The hoarde smelled fresh meat and followed.

They listened to three gunshots— and then two— three more rapidly— before they heard no more.

Damon was shivering. Caroline carefully took his hand, not daring to look him in the eyes.  
>"Come on. There's nothing left for us here."<p>

* * *

><p>"Over here!" They bolted through the forest, finally putting some distance between them and the herd. Caroline smelled lake water. Ahead of them, Matt pointed to a wooden shack near the edge of the lake. He kicked the door down, gave a quick scope of the room inside, then gave cover to Bonnie and Liz with Tyler as they raced Jeremy across the threshold. Stefan, clutching Elena, followed immediately afterward. Matt slammed the door shut after him.<p>

Caroline spun around, her back to the lake-house and her hunting knives tight in her grasp. She and Damon were waiting for stragglers. It was silent. A brush of wind in the trees rattled the pine branches as if invisible demons cheered on the carnage. They heard the faint noise of the water rushing into the hard stones at the lake's edge. Everything in nature was perverted, willing towards anger and chaos instead of peace. It was just a matter of time.

Several Diseased peeled themselves out of the dark, the shadows as thick and dangerous as black tar. They moaned, their mouths serrated holes.

"Circle the edges, then head back through the center." Damon muttered. "Go as fast as you can. And remember—,"

"Don't miss." Caroline flipped the knives in her hands. "Rule number one."

His sudden tension of presence told her there was something else he needed to say.

"What?"

"Be safe." Her heart tightened and she nodded.

"You too."

Caroline became a sharp blur, deadly and graceful, with the inhuman accuracy. She felt nothing as she bent over bodies, dodging out stretched hands and gnashing teeth, and pounced on a fresh kill. She cleaved two heads in half and smashed a third under the heel of her boot. For the first time in over four hours, her head was clear of her father's last words to her. She removed the image of Ms. Lockwood's terrified face from her mind. With careful, metallic extraction, her heart no longer swelled in grief when she remembered Alaric's final request. As she culled through body after body, blood covering her face and hands, the scene replayed over and over again, like a film strip, but she felt nothing. She could turn it off. But that's one of the advantages of being vampire, a conscious member of the undead. You had control over your emotions, reining them in when it was too much. That was your gift, your extra power. But as Caroline spun and glided over corpses both animated and silent, she wondered what the trade off for your new power was— what did you have to give up to give away your emotions?

She landed in a crouch, having slit through the final head in her path. She looked up and across through the field, Damon broke through the skull of a Diseased. Scowling, he shook the grey blood from his fist as the creature slumped to the ground. Without a moment of pause, of hesitation, he spun and punctured another hole through a skull. He was completely removed from the man she met in the hole. And she had never been more proud of him.

Caroline heard a snap of movement behind her and she rolled as a Diseased lunged at her. It stumbled to the ground in front of her. The knife pierced its head and using the other one she nailed a second to a tree. She swept up with the knife and came down behind her. They were finished.

She stood up to retrieve the knife from the tree when she felt cold fingers on her feet. She hadn't stabbed all the way through. Her heart leapt up into her throat, and she fell over, the creature roaring and snatching.

An arrow punctured its head and it slumped forward to the ground. Caroline whipped around and saw Damon frozen, the wrist-crossbow aimed high. He was shaking. Finally he took deep breath and lowered his arm. He stared at the weapon before hastily yanking it off. He moved as if to throw it on the ground but couldn't bring himself to do it. Caroline stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. He was obviously disturbed.

"Damon, what is it?"

He was still staring at the weapon in his hands. "Alaric—," his voice caught, "—he gave that to me before . . . before it all went down. He thought I needed something extra, in case things— got bad. I told him to keep it, the idiot, but he said I'm the one who needed the luck. Like I need . . . why didn't he listen?"

Caroline barely moved her arm to his shoulder before he buried his face in her neck.

* * *

><p><em>*AN Some of you had commented in the previous chapter that you hope nobody died . . ._

_Yeah. Sorry about that. _

_And yes, depressing moment after depressing moment. I'm sorry, but I swear there shall be victory! Divided they fall, united they fight! Love conquers all! "They shall take our lives but they shall never take our freedom!" (or something like that!) I promise, promise, promise, PROMISE there is a happy ending to all of this!_

_Reviews make the ego-demon in me happy and ego-demon loves to write!_


	17. Chapter 17: Crack

**Chapter 17: Crack**

_A shout rang out from across the room. Another one went out, biting and sharp. A yell shook the windows. A roar shook the floor._

* * *

><p>"Damon?" She didn't know if she should touch him or simply be a body for him to hold. He stood still, breathing softly into her hair, his face hidden in her neck. The hand that held the crossbow trembled. "Damon, please say something."<p>

His breath was wet and warm against her skin. It rose and fell in puffs, sending sensations down her spine. Images of that night flickered in her memory— his teeth in her skin, his wide hands clutching her to him, warm blood trailing down her back. Her breath hitched and she mentally shook her head.

_Friend._

_Be his friend._

Gently, she put a hand on his shoulder. He tensed at her touch. She couldn't figure if that was a good sign or not. "Damon," she began and found her voice to be annoyingly weak. If he hadn't figured out that being this close was setting her skin on fire, he did now. She awkwardly patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry about Alaric."

He didn't move. Cautiously, she drew herself closer and moved a hand to his neck. She put the other one around his back in what she hoped was a friendly hug. His hair smelled like mint. Spurred on by the very fact that he hadn't moved away, she continued, "I'm here for you. If you need to talk, or scream, or yell, I'm here."

He took a deep breath and caused her to shiver.

"I thought we were just friends from now on." Damon said, his lips ghosting her skin. "You were going to let me make my own decisions."

His breath was clogging her brain. "Yes, yes, I am. But since Elena's a little bit MIA, I'm going to be here for you."

"You keep saying that." He finally stepped back. A brush of hair stroked her fingers as he pulled away. He stared at her, his blue eyes dulled. "Here for what? To pick up the pieces? The guy was an idiot. He didn't have to do that— he shouldn't have. It's like I'd want to return the favor, even if I could." He spat out the words as though they burned his tongue. Caroline watched him self-implode and there was nothing she could do. "He was an idiot and he died an idiot and it's better that he's gone!"

Caroline gazed at him in sadness. "I know. I miss him too."

Damon's lip twitched. "Don't do that."

"I'm calling your BS, Damon. If you want to be angry, be angry. But don't diminish what he did for us. It's called a sacrifice for a reason."

Damon looked like he wanted to strangle her. "There's nothing—,"

"He sacrificed himself to give us a chance. That has to count for something."

He suddenly looked away, his anger fading the moment she said 'us.'

Caroline felt something warm slide down her back. "And by us, I— I meant, the group. Everyone. Not just _us_, us."

She had never seen him nervous before and that just made the blush spread around her face faster. Unfortunately, he caught it. His eyebrows bounced up and he grinned.

"Good to know not all of my tricks have gone to waste on you."

"Stop!" Caroline took a step back, her hands up in a barrier. His eyes flashed surprised then hurt. "Are you going to make a decision or are you just going to torture me?"

"What?"

"I asked you if the night we spent together meant anything. You said it did, but you don't know about the next step. Which is fine," she said, sighing, "and I told Elena I'd stop coming in between you two. And I have. But if this is just going to be just— this— no touching, no kissing, no anything else—, then I'm _begging_ you to stop looking at me like you're undressing me with your eyes."

The corners of his mouths threatened to turn up, but his eyes fell to the ground and he nodded.

"You're right. Elena should be my focus. I should see her. You won't mind taking first watch, will you?"

Without waiting for an answer, he strode past her and entered the cabin.

* * *

><p>Inside the lake house, someone had started a fire. She smelled broccoli and mushroom soup from a can as it bubbled over the flame. Caroline scowled. Her stomach grumbled but the smell seemed to make it easier. How anyone was expected to eat broccoli and mushroom soup, even in the apocalypse—<p>

She opened the door and saw Bonnie crouched by a levitating fire. A floating pot was slowly churning the grey slosh, which Caroline took to be the soup. Bonnie focused on the fire, her mind miles away. Stefan sat against the wall, dark circles beneath the pits of his eyes. He looked like he had been struck dumb. Jeremy was conscious finally, alternating glances between Bonnie's back and the splint on his leg. Caroline coughed, as if to announce her presence, but no one moved. She slung the two rabbits off her back and dropped them on the floor. They fell with a surprising thud and Bonnie's eyes flickered to the animals. Stefan barely shifted.

"This is all I could find. Everything, everyone else, has moved on. I've already had some. Stefan, you're up."

"I don't want any." He leaned back, his face hidden in shadow. "I hope you didn't go far to catch them. You left us completely unprotected."

Caroline scowled. "No, Stefan, I didn't risk my life to feed your sorry ass. You're welcome."

He still didn't move.

"I know your guilt is all hot and bubbly right now, but you need to eat. If something does come, you're going to need your strength."

He was still motionless, then a sharp hand poked out through the darkness. Caroline rolled her eyes and tossed him a rabbit. They heard a nasty growl before deep heavy slurping. Bonnie suddenly realized where she was and gave the slurping shadow a glare. She turned around to face Jeremy. Clearly, his mind had been elsewhere, for when their eyes met, he flushed red.

"How are you feeling, Jer?" She asked. The pot flew into her hand. She stuck a pinkie in the soup before deciding the temperature was acceptable. "Soup's on. It's a little lukewarm, but it's food, right?"

"I'll only eat if you go first." Jeremy said firmly. He handed her the spoon. His eyes were soft in the firelight.

It was Bonnie's turn to flush. "Okay." She took the spoon and eagerly scooped a bite into her mouth. Jeremy watched her with a smile. She handed back the spoon to Jeremy who, with his eyes caught with Bonnie's, took a bite.

"And the happy couple makes it through another night of Armageddon." Damon leaned on the doorway. His face was blank. "Goodie on you."

Bonnie pulled away from the soup and Jeremy. She scowled. "Aren't you supposed to be with Elena?"

"I smelled blood. Besides it's my time for patrol duty. Thought I'd get a snack before heading out." He strode across the floor so brutally, Jeremy had to pull his leg out of the way. Bonnie's eyes crackled. Damon snatched the rabbit from the ground without looking at Caroline. He tore into its throat. After a minute he pulled away, looking disgusted.

"That's horrible."

"It's not like we have a lot of options here." Caroline sighed. She unclipped her weapons belt and threw it on the ground. Damon wiped his chin of blood as his face changed back to normal. His black eyes fixated on her for a moment, before they faded into dark blue.

"I can't help it if I want what I want."

"We all have to do things we don't want to. Yours just happens to be not being a pig for once."

That came out a bit harder than she meant it, but he took the spark and burst into flame.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did we break a nail out on patrol? Where did this little mood come from?"

Matt and a displaced Tyler entered the room. "We finished counting the supplies and—,"

Bonnie leapt to her feet. "Don't you dare use that tone with her! She's been out, risking her life while you sat in the back, crying your eyes out like the pathetic asshole you are!"

"Bonnie!" Jeremy cried. "Whoa! Calm down!"

"No, this needs to be said! His attitude has been dragging us all down!"

The ball of fire in the center of the room glowed brighter, sharper. Stefan stood to his feet.

"Bonnie, I know you're tired but we can't be like this!" Caroline said, eyeing the fire.

"I'm sick and tired of fighting your battles, when this one keeps knocking me down!" She pointed sharply at Damon and a hissing noise filled the air.

"Get your girlfriend in check," Damon scowled, pulling back against the wall. Jeremy watched Bonnie with growing alarm. "She's going to kill someone."

"She's not my girlfriend! But she's not wrong."

"Apologize, Damon." Stefan warned, watching the fire glow brighter.

"No. I think I'll just eat her." Damon growled, his eyes bright in radiance of the fire.

Matt stepped forward, oblivious he was walking directly in the line of destruction between a tornado and a hurricane. "Guys, take a deep breath. We can't fight. Klaus is still out there—,"

"And what do you want to do about that?" Jeremy snapped from the floor. Caroline was shocked to hear this from him. "We've got no real weapons, no permanent shelter, little food supplies. I'm hurt, Elena's fading fast, Tyler just lost his mom, we lost Alaric— what could we possibly do?"

"I don't know, just sit and rot in this hole!" Tyler glared at Jeremy. "Since we're so freaking hopeless!"

"Stop attacking him!" Bonnie yelped.

A shout rang out from across the room. Another one went out, biting and sharp. A yell shook the windows. A roar shook the floor.

Caroline watched helplessly as the last shred by which she clung to this world, shivered, tattered and finally frayed into nothing.

* * *

><p>Damon kicked open the door with enough force to burst through the hinges. He was seething. Caroline came running after him.<p>

"Damon, please don't do this!" She cried. "We'll figure things out! We just need to adjust— maybe take a nap."

"A nap?" He whirled around. She stared at him, horrified. "Our problems are going to be solved through taking a nap? Do you even listen to yourself?"

"Please, our group is breaking and we're all we have anymore—,"

Damon clenched his jaw as though he wanted to add something else horribly scathing but then he shook his head. "I can't do this any more, Caroline. I'm leaving. Good luck to you and the rest of the Motley Crew."

"I can't believe you do something like this!" Stefan strode out of the cabin, his fists clenched. He had been listening. "We may have our differences but this is too far, even for you!"

"Oh, don't pull that Band of Brothers crap on me!" Damon scowled, facing his brother as if to prepare for a fight. "A year ago you wouldn't let your precious Elena near me, and now you're dying for my help! I'm starting to feel a little used."

"You should feel needed," Stefan solemnly, albeit sarcastically. "You wanted to stay in Mystic Falls, now you have to be here!"

"I don't _have_ to do anything. You wanted me gone, I'm gone."

"We're leaving too." Tyler burst out of the cabin door. A guilty-looking Matt skirted behind him, carrying a limp Jeremy, and then—

"Mom!" Caroline gasped. Liz Forbes hung her head.

"I'm sorry. I just can't let them decide when and where I die." Her eyes glared hatefully at Damon and Stefan, before looking shamefully at Caroline. "You can come with us. But I just have to go."

"And you, Jeremy?" Caroline asked hopelessly. Jeremy's face contorted as if he tasted something that didn't agree with him.

"I trust Stefan." He said. "He can keep her safe. I can't help her if I'm hurt."

"So, this is what we do at the end?" Stefan glared at all of them. Damon was staring pointedly at the ground. "We break apart because we've just hit the thick of it? This is what they want!"

"This is ridiculous." Bonnie was standing in the doorway, her jaw set. "Trying to stay together is hopeless. I'm going. We can't save Elena."

She started off towards the forest, when Stefan leaped out in front of her. His eyes were near pitch-blackness. "You're not going anywhere. You're staying with Elena until she takes her last breath."

"Won't be long now." It was Caroline who spoke.

"You can't make me do anything, Salvatore," Bonnie said harshly, her voice suddenly deep.

"You might not care about your future but I know Emily would have been furious to hear her line ended so soon," Stefan said quickly, his tone full of menace. "I can't imagine a happy greeting would await you if you simply gave up."

Bonnie eye's flickered dangerously. In the shadows, her face looked disfigured with devil horns. "I stay because I wish to, not to bend to your will."

Still glaring at Bonnie, Stefan barked at the rest of them, "Get out, all of you. You make me sick."

Scowling, Caroline turned, without a second glance to anyone, and bolted into the trees.

* * *

><p>"So you think this will work? Calling him out like this?" Stefan bent low to the ground, dusting the blades of grass with herbs. He then moved and set the candles alight.<p>

"Yes, it has to." Elena emerged from the woods, her face smudged with dirt but very much alive. "Before she left, Bonnie said that he would hear a spell like this from three states over. Once we send off this thing, he'll know we want to talk."

Stefan stared at her a little too long before he went back to setting up the spell. "And what are going to talk about?"

"Hopefully a cease-fire," Elena said with a sigh and she lit the match. Stefan stepped back and joined her at the picnic table. They had found a secluded bench in one of Mystic Fall's older parks. Elena had said this was a perfect place to set up a truce. With a quick glance to Stefan, she dropped the burning match into the fire pit that held the rest of the mixture of herbs. "Here goes everything."

Immediately a sharp shrill sound reverberated in the air. Elena and Stefan clamped their hands over their ears to muffle the noise.

"You think its working?" he yelled.

"Ask me again when my ears aren't ringing!"

A bright wave of smoke suddenly rose up from the center of the pit. It swirled before shooting out like a blast-wave. The shrill noise stopped. Stefan eyed Elena. The forest was quiet.

"How long should it take? Do we just—,"

Something large and heavy threw him to the ground. Quick as lightening, Elena lashed out with a vial of holy water and the figure was knocked into a tree.

"Caroline, NOW!" Elena barked.

Out of the trees, she tumbled, rolling as she hit the ground. With a swift swipe of a match, Caroline lit the circle of herbs on fire. It made a whooshing sound as it surrounded them. The struggling figure was cloaked shadow.

Caroline darted forward and grabbed the shadow by its shoulders, hurling it to the opposite side of the clearing. Elena dove into her satchel and pulled out another vial and threw it at the figure, sweat peaking on her brow in earnest.

Vines ripped out of the ground and wove themselves around the stranger's arms and legs, pinning him to the earth. With every move, they squeezed tighter and the creature groaned.

Caroline watched him carefully, waiting for anything. She bounced on the balls of her feet, ready to duck or roll or attack. Her eyes never left the struggling figure.

Elena watched the shadow jerk and twist. "Klaus?"

The figure stopped squirming. It sat back on its legs, its head hanging low.

Finally, it raised its eyes.

"Yes. It's me." Klaus Michaelson smirked. "And I want to play."

* * *

><p><em>*AN: Aww yeah, e'rybody's favorite Original is back and ready to kick some ass! I'm sorry for the heartbreak of last chapter but I promise it will get better! The next chapter is a little less DC centric, but they do have their moments. _

_Is it weird that while I was writing this I thought of the Teen Titans episode where Slade tries to break them up? And at some point he goes "united they stand, divided they fall?" I guess the themes are similar but still— way too many fandoms are battling for space up in my brain-hole. Thanks for the reviews!_

_Also, the reason they haven't healed Jeremy with vampire blood is that it's too risky. He could die with vamp blood in his system and they don't want to risk the Change. And, from a while back, Liz and Caroline heard Damon moving around because the spell only blocks out the noise of 'le-sexy times'. Ex Deus Machina, I know, but still, better have your mom hear you fight with a crazy vampire than do the dark deed with him, amiright?_


	18. Chapter 18: O Death

**Chapter 18: O Death**

_No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold_

_Nothing satisfies me but your soul_

_ -Jen Titus, O Death_

* * *

><p><em>Five hours ago:<em>

Caroline watched helplessly as the last shred by which she clung to this world, shivered, tattered and finally frayed into nothing.

_No, no, this is how he wins! This is how he breaks us down!_

Matt had Tyler pushed against the wall, keeping him from taking a swing at Stefan. Stefan was yelling at Damon, who looked murderous. Bonnie was trying to comfort Jeremy but he looked capable of pulling of Damon's head. He pushed her away.

_Come on, Head Cheerleader Captain! You've pulled together scrappier teams before!_

But how?

Caroline scrunched up her face, focusing her entire brain energy on a single word:

_BONNIE!_

The witch blinked as if startled. She looked across the room at Caroline, bewildered.

_Bonnie, can you hear me?_

Very slowly, the witch nodded.

_So glad the clairvoyant thing turned out to be something a little more! But seriously, look at everyone! This is not how we're going to beat Klaus! _

_What do you want me to do, Caroline? _Even in her head, Bonnie sounded exasperated.

_I think I have an idea. But first of all, can you put up a silencing spell around the cabin? Or something to mask what we're saying?_

Bonnie frowned. _I overlay the fight so anyone listening will think we're still at each other's throats._

Caroline smiled. _Perfect!_

Bonnie took a deep breath, muttered some old words and nodded to Caroline. _It's done. Now what?_

_Make them shut up. _

The girls looked at the fight that was coming near blows. Bonnie shrugged. _I hope you know what you're doing._

Bonnie blinked and a spark separated the boys from one another. They all looked puzzled.

"Now that the macho pissing contest is over," Caroline said, stepping forward. "I have something to say."

They watched her in disbelief. The cabin was quiet except for the crackle of the fire. The light divided her from them.

_It's now or never._

"I'm tired." She said. "I'm tired, and I'm hungry and I miss my bed, and I miss sleeping without being in constant fear. There are times when I want to wake up and scream myself hoarse, but I can't. Because giving up, that means he wins. Forget his master plan. I give up and he wins. At the end of the day, no matter what I chose, when I close my eyes, I get the final say about when and where _I_ die. He can take away every soul I've ever met, but there is no way he can tell me when to die. And he knows it." She held their gazes. "He knows that he doesn't control us in the end so he's trying to make us decide, much sooner than later. From day one, he's expected every single one of our moves and he's beaten us it. So I propose something different. I'm sick and tired of running. We've been running for a week and look where that's gotten us. Let's do something he will never expect. Let's give him hell."

"What do you want to do?" Damon asked. Caroline glanced at him. The way he spoke, she had never heard him sound like that, at least when talking to her. It sounded oddly like respect.

"Before, at the boarding house, my dad said that Klaus had been watching us. He's expecting us to crack under the pressure. Let's let him have it."

* * *

><p><em>Three Hours Ago:<em>

Bonnie was putting the final touches on both her entrapment and signaling spells. Jeremy was up spreading Disillusionment ointment on himself, just after Matt. Matt watched in awe as his skin faded into the background of the cabin, and then slowly his skin came back. Bonnie said it would keep them hidden in the woods, as long as they didn't move. Liz eyed the ointment with some trepidation.

Stefan brought out Elena and placed her next to Bonnie. She finished up with both sets of herbs before turning to the girl on the floor. With her hands out stretched, their images shivered and like a gust of wind, a cover blew over the girls, switching their places. Bonnie was suddenly on the floor, and the real Bonnie, covered in a glamour of Elena, stood up. Caroline had to look away. She was a perfect image.

Stefan wouldn't look at her.

"I'm sorry, Stefan," Bonnie said mournfully in Elena's voice. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you."

"Just don't get caught, okay?" He asked. "I know we need for Klaus to believe that we cured you, but still. If he comes at you, don't be afraid to break out the aneurism thing."

Bonnie smiled sadly with Elena's lips. She nodded. "She'll be close by, but hidden. The real Elena will be perfectly safe. I'll just be you, me, Caroline, Damon and Tyler, facing one little Original. Shouldn't be that hard."

"Ok, so to pull this off, he really has to believe that we're breaking off." Caroline raised a fist in the same way her freshmen theater teacher had. "I want anger, meanness, rejection and maybe a few tears! Once more, with feeling!"

She stepped back in a bow as Damon strode to the front of the door. Matt and Liz pulled Jeremy to his feet, grimacing as he went. Stefan leaned over to help Bonnie strap on her bag and reached down to gather the real Elena, who now looked like Bonnie.

"You ready to do this?" Damon glanced to Caroline, as the others got ready. She took a deep breath.

"As I'll ever be."

"I'm about to get really mean. But it's all an act. Don't believe anything I say."

Caroline smiled at him. "Okay. Now get out there, you big jackass."

Damon raised his boot to the door.

* * *

><p><em>Two Hours Ago:<em>

"Come on, Balto, put that wolf-y speed into high-gear." Damon jogged lightly over the ridge.

"Sorry, but some of us actually need to breathe." Tyler ran up next to him. He was sweating heavily.

Damon surveyed the land in front of them. "You can breathe when you're dead."

Tyler shot him a glare. Damon rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant."

Tyler stood up and looked at the massive tent in three hundred feet in front of them. "Is Bonnie sure about this? Can we really just grab him and go?"

"I think we have the element of surprise on our hands and that's about it. Caroline said this plan had a low rate of success. I just didn't think she specified for whom." Damon said sourly.

"So we stick to the plan? We run in there, knocking down everything until we find the doctor?"

"Yes, Rose. We have to find the doctor." Damon smirked.

"What?" Tyler frowned. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Never mind. Come on, Lassie. Timmy's down the well." He started down the hill.

"Do you ever run out of dog jokes?" Tyler scowled.

"Let's both live through this to find out."

* * *

><p><em>Now:<em>

"Stefan," Klaus began. "How 'bout you help a old friend out and untie these, ay?"

"Not even if you begged." Stefan said, grinning. He sat down on the table, the image of perfect confidence. "Which, at this point, I'm kind of hoping you do."

"So you got the big bad man in a trap? Do you really want to test my one-thousand years of strength?"

"I'm not going to test anything." Stefan said. "You're going to stay right there until we get what we want."

Klaus smirked as though a game of chess had taken a particularly interesting turn. "Oh, really? And how are you so sure of that?"

On cue, Damon and Tyler leaped through the ring of fire, carrying something between them.

Damon yanked Dr. Simmons to his feet. His face was round and flushed. Sweat poured down his face like candle wax. His tiny eyes hid behind minute glasses that made his fat face look bigger. He didn't look like he had survived the Holocaust, much less be responsible for creating an army of the undead.

"We might not be able to kill you. But we can hurt you, real bad." Damon smirked. He twisted Dr. Simmon's arm and the rat-like man yelped. "And that might just be worth the whole damn thing."

Klaus looked at him inquisitively, his eyes bright with mock humor. "Is that right?"

Caroline stepped forward. "We're sure as hell going to try."

Elena stood up from the picnic table, the circle of fire surrounding them burning in her eyes. She approached the Original, her fists clenched and every step full of determination.

"We have your doctor, we have you surrounded, we could kill you where you stand, unless you call off in the invasion."

Klaus eyed her, his head cocked to the side, a smile puckering his lips. Finally, his eyes traveled to each of their faces and then, he chuckled.

A sense of dread burrowed deep inside Caroline. Why was he laughing? He should be scared. They could do horrible things to him, cause him horrible agony. Why was he laughing?

"Hmm, facing me head on, not your best move. Definitely not your brightest when I can snap my fingers and have hordes of the hungry undead arise and feast on your flesh." He paused, shrugging, obviously considering that possibility. "So making rash decisions, check. You found my doctor, that is correct." He nodded to Dr. Simmons who looked like a roasted pig. Damon's countenance of determination was fading fast. "However, you must have blasted your way through my defenses, nearly killing your beloveds in the process. Desperation? Check. And finally, you think I came here unprepared for a little . . . fisty cuffs? Well, that, my friends, is where you are dead wrong."

A figure emerged from the forest beyond the circle of fire. In fear, the fire bent around the figure as she walked forward and the light revealed it to be the form of a woman. Her dark hair lay straight against her back. Her thin Asian eyes held no humanity within them. Her bright red lips stood out against her pale skin. Caroline had to look away; the power emanating from her was stifling.

With a bored wave of her hand, the witch removed the glamour and released Klaus from the vines. The image of Elena faded like smoke and there stood Bonnie looking shocked and afraid. The witch's eyes snapped to the Dr. Simmons and he squealed. His neck popped and he went limp in their hands. Tyler and Damon dropped him, looking disgusted.

The smile Klaus gave Stefan as he stood was sickly sweet.

"And now you are just boldly lying to me. I make an appearance in town for just a few weeks and I can't even get an audience with everyone's favorite doppelganger. Now that's just inconsiderate, don't you agree, Martha?"

Without warning, the witch tossed out a talon-like hand and from it a bolt of lightening struck Bonnie in the chest. The girl screamed in agony. Caroline jerked as if to move, but Klaus shook one little finger at her.

"Ah, ah."

Caroline hurled every ounce of hatred at the Original standing before her. He merely chuckled.

"Martha here isn't one for lack of manners. She likes a respectful audience. In fact, she demands it."

The inhuman eyes glittered as she threw a second bolt at Bonnie. Tears welled in her brown as her screams pierced the night. She collapsed to the ground.

"I think she's making her point, don't you? No?" Klaus stared at them as if he was waiting for a raised hand. "Well, then maybe she wasn't speaking clearly enough."

The witch lifted her hand again, but Stefan jumped forward. "Klaus— stop!" He went back to the statue and moved back a cover of leaves. Bonnie had managed to prop herself up. Blood was pouring down her nose.

"Stefan, don't . . ." she moaned. But it was too late. He came back, carrying the real Elena in his arms. His eyes were mournful. She had hours left.

"Please, just help her. Save her and I'll do whatever you want."

Klaus looked down his long nose, eying the dying girl. He gently moved a strand of hair from her pale face. And then he laughed.

"Oooh, look at you. Sorry to say this, love, but you're looking a little peaked."

Stefan's eyes widened in horror.

"B-b-but you can't let her die. She's the Doppelganger, you need her blood."

The smile grew bigger on his red lips. His eyes danced to Stefan's hopeless face. He was enjoying himself far too much.

"This was your back-up plan?" He asked, chuckling, gesturing to the girl. "Present me with the nearly lifeless body of Elena Gilbert in order to what? Force me to give up the cure? You want me to make her all better to return her to a life full of pain and death. Now that's just cruel, even for you." He frowned seriously and stepped back. His triumphant gaze spread to each of their faces. "Haven't you been watching the news, lovies? My disease has spread across the continent and it's growing, every day. There's nowhere you can go, nowhere you can keep her safe."

He gazed at Elena with sick adoration. He looked back at Stefan. "Letting her die, while she's asleep, peacefully, that seems the way to go." His grin widened, a joke suddenly coming to his head. "The only trouble with that is having to put a bullet through her brain in about six hours or have her starting eating the remaining limbs from her baby brother. Oh, decisions, decisions."

Stefan was shaking, his eyes filling with tears. "Your army, y-y-y-you need her."

Klaus' eyes narrowed. His voice came out as soft as velvet. "What if I told you, Stefan Salvatore, that I had bigger fish to fry? That in the grand scheme of things, the death of one little Petrova girl meant to me as much as daggering my entire family and putting them in boxes? What would you do then?"

_No, no_, Caroline begged silently, _this wasn't how it was suppose to go! She was supposed to live!_

Stefan's mouth fluttered open and closed, his eyes traveling from the Original to the near dead girl in his arms.

Klaus sighed, rolling his eyes. "Oh God, Ripper, you used to be so much fun! It was kill a girl here, eat her family there." He said with a faint grin at the memories. "And now you've got morals clogging your throat instead of blood. Tsk, tsk, it's always sad to see a Great One go, but, ah, well." He stepped back, near his witch, his arms open in a nearly welcoming gesture. "This has been fun. You should see the look of pure agony on all your faces and you would completely understand my laughter."

He tried laughing but his gaze was met with seething hatred. "Maybe, you had to be there. But, God, if you're going to be such little stuck-up arses, then here."

Klaus reached inside the lapel of his dark jacket and pulled out a single vial of a dark substance. He tossed it to Stefan, who barely grabbed it in time. He looked at it as thought it was the word of God.

"Is this the cure?"

Klaus huffed, clearly put out. "No! It's the blood of a Nigerian princess. She is— er, was— a virgin that was saving herself for me." He smirked, miming a blush. "Well, actually her marriage to a warring nation's prince would have brought peace to both countries, but it's so much more romantic if I believe it was all for me. And you." His eyes glittered at Stefan.

"That's your 'get-out-of-hell' free card. When you want to stop playing T-Ball Dad and get back to being the true Ripper, then you drink this. I know, I know, right now, you're probably going to be a little . . . hesitant about my offer, but this whole thing can go away if you never, ever let go of that vial. I want you to carry it with you at all times, and believe me, I'll know if you don't." Every syllable dripped with a threat. "I want you to promise me, Stefan, to think about my offer. Join me. Be with me and we'll conquer the world. Best part is Elena will be with us, as my blood bank and your— whatever it is you want to have with her. You, me and Elena, together, forever. That's all I'm offering."

Stefan glared at the vial, as though it burned to touch it. But with a shaking hand, he put it into his pocket. "Fine, whatever, Klaus. I'll keep this with me, but I am begging you, let me keep her. If she dies, I'll be no use for you. Killing her will kill me."

Klaus put a wide hand over his heart, smiling sadistically. "As much as that sentiment warmed my cold dead heart, there's nothing I can do." His teeth were pointed in his mouth. "There is no cure, sweet Stefan. Elena Gilbert will die."

His words hung in the air like poison darts. Caroline felt her heart sink and fall.

No, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. At all. They were supposed to win.

Caroline gasped as a flood of memories hit her.

Fireflies.

Car rides.

Sunglasses.

Hot chocolate.

Pillow fights.

Tears. And laughs.

Bestfriends. Hands held. Starlights.

She was seventeen on the brink of life. Just like Caroline. Only this time, she wasn't going to come back.

She didn't realize she was crying until the tears felt cold against her jaw.

The Original watched them as the news hit them in each and every way. He knew they had lost everything and loved adding on the final tragic straw. He snickered.

"Oh, you guys can be so melodramatic!" He shook his head, a low snigger in the back of his throat. "_Vampires_, you lot, it's laughable. Your emotions are so . . . _acidic!_" He made a face. "I can taste it. And the guilt, oh God, don't you have any fun? We're supposed to eat humans, not feel their pain. That's what being higher up on the food chain means!" Clearly, no one was roused by his speech. With a sigh, Klaus began to pace.

"And see, ladies and gentlemen, this is the crux of all this. All of it." He paused and stretched his arms, gesturing to the pain, carnage and bloodshed the town had suffered. His eyes glittered menacingly.

"_**Power.**_ Who has it, who doesn't and who wants it. You have the Doppelganger so you think you have power, when in reality, she has the power of all your lives in the palm of her delicate little hand. And you, you sorry excuses for vampires, you have the power of eternal life and you waste it feeling sorry for yourselves! Had I know my entire species would turn into immortal wankers I would have said bollocks to the whole plan a long time ago!" He flew an annoyed hand into the air, finally ending his pace. He glared at them, as if expecting someone to doubt him. Finally, with a great sigh, Klaus turned and signaled something to the witch.

She stepped back, breathing heavily, and began to chant. A violet light swirled out from her hands. Slowly she lowered her hands above the ground. The light entered into the earth. It rumbled. Her head rolled back, her eyes fluttering.

Klaus watched her before stepping to the front again.

"But really, you should try to loosen up. Dear Bonnie certainly has. She's accepted her power so why can't you?" Then he bent down and extended a hand to the young witch still on the ground. He grinned at her. Bonnie scowled and she pulled away from him. With a jerk of an eyebrow, he stood up, closing his hand. "Maybe you're a little more accepting when you have the power of all the souls in Mystic Falls at your disposal. Creating a _khodunki_ isn't just science, it's a transfer of power. Between life and the shadow of death. Simmons here was close." He gestured to the dead body of the terrified fat man. "He just didn't understand the, ah, metaphysical side of the afterlife. And I will save your pathetic existence with power."

The witch started chanting louder, black veins inching over her skin. The glow of light grew brighter and the pulse of magic into the earth grew stronger.

"What I said was true." Klaus said, his eyes traveling across the broken group. "There is no cure. So let's remove the need for a cure at all. Using my power, I will send you back in time to a month ago today. I will reverse the flow of time to fix your doomed little world and save your teacher, your mother, and your father." As he spoke, he pinpointed Matt, Tyler and Caroline with sharp eyes. Tyler flexed his fingers in hatred.

"But here's the kicker. You will remember it all. Just you lucky lot. I'd like to think of this as a learning experience and you can't be allowed for the forgetfulness of summer to set in. So you won't. You will remember who has the power and who doesn't. You will remember who saved Elena and who nearly let her die. You will remember the power."

He smiled deliciously at Stefan, who gaped at him dumbfounded.

"This is what you've been planning from day one." It wasn't a question. "You've killed thousands of innocent people just to make me remember the old days."

Klaus snickered.

"You've clearly forgotten how importance friendship once meant to us, Stefan. I thought someone should remind you. But, honestly, don't flatter yourself too much. You're only one part of my puzzle piece. My messenger told you my appearance was nothing more than a threat to the ill-fated illusion of freedom you Salvatores have given poor Elena. What am I, if not a man of my word?"

The witch suddenly launched a beam of violet light into the sky. She was screaming something in ancient Latin, her black hair flying and her eyes just as dark. It struck the clouds above and there was a crack of lightening. The wind picked up and leaves and twigs snapped in the harsh wind. Electricity crackled and a thick buzz filled the air.

Klaus, his black jacket snapping around his thin hips, knelt down next to Stefan, trapping his eyes. He spoke low and fast but somehow Caroline still managed to hear it.

"If you're in pain now, if you're scared now, you have no grasp of what's coming. You're only in the first act, sweethearts, just wait 'till the finale. You're going to wish it ended here."

Suddenly the entire earth shuddered. The ground heaved and the wind hissed. The black clouds above them churned like an angry snake. The witch was chanting, her voice heavy and dark, like a demon's. Bolts of lightening struck the sky.

The clouds whirled and shook. They spun, as though conducted around a single point. Lighting cracked and struck the very center of the vortex. A bright light emerged from the center and it slammed into the ground in a bright column. The ground rumbled. The light expanded, churning rapidly. Klaus stood up, smiled, and watched the growing light as it engulfed them all.

* * *

><p>The light faded.<p>

Klaus walked forward, grinning. The last bits of power surrounded the witch withered, her hands and eyes still crackling. Her skin twitched.

Caroline looked up. The sky was clear and it was shifting from painted black to a light purple. It was dawn.

Could this really be over?

Wait, then, they still had a chance—

Her eyes flashed to Damon, but he was gone. Tyler was alone.

And then the witch screamed. Damon grabbed her elbow with one hand and the other pierced her back. His bloody hand held her no-more beating heart. The electricity died in her eyes.

"Now, Bonnie!" He snarled.

The girl that had been previously lying, weakened, and sick on the ground, suddenly sat up and slammed her palms deep into the dirt. The Earth consumed them.

Klaus whipped around as a sharp light enveloped the dead witch and dove into the ground. It poured into Bonnie. She was chanting fast but her voice caught and her words stumbled as the power hit her. It raced like bloodhounds over the wet earth and into Bonnie. She spoke fast, with strength, with encouragement, with ancient immorality.

Klaus roared in anger, the arrogance gone. Caroline reached into her bag and chucked a vial of holy water into Klaus' chest. He snarled and fell back, bits of his skin gone and charred.

"I don't think so, sparky," she snapped.

The light flowed brilliantly and fast and until finally, the witch's body cracked, and faded to grey. Her hair shivered and like the turning of an hourglass, she turned to dust. Damon stepped back as the heart in his hand faded into sand.

"NO!" Klaus roared, his skin healing. "You bitch!" He spat at Bonnie.

She didn't hear him. Every inch of Bonnie was glowing. Slowly, she climbed to her feet and flexed her shimmering fingers, her face bright as though glossed. She looked like a vision of heaven. And then she spoke:

"Nature isn't something you can bend to your will, Klaus. It's a living, breathing organism. It loves when it's treated with respect and hates when it's hurt. It gets sick and heals. It dies and becomes something new. Something powerful." She turned her head to the seething Original. A flicker of fear crossed his face. "You know, nature is a lot like humanity, Klaus, something you clearly don't understand. It will rise every time you beat it down. But sometimes, we all get a little lost. Sometimes nature needs a savior. And, well, just think of me as the Champion of the People."

She pulled back her hands, the light surrounding her suddenly channeling into her core. With a sharp pop of her wrists, a blast hit Klaus and he was blown onto his back, screaming. Caroline shielded her eyes from the light, the brightness overwhelming.

"This nature letting you know just how pissed it is. She doesn't like being used and She's never going to be used by you again." She shot him again. His howls filled the forest. "Your bitch was abusing her powers given to her by nature. She's suffering because of it. Now it's your turn."

She shot another bolt and then her power faded. But only because she reeled it in. Caroline could smell it on her skin.

Klaus was panting on the ground. Finally, he sat up, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Killing her when she was in Transference, when she was weakest? Probably the weakest she's been in two hundred years. Clever, Bonnie, very clever." He stood up, shaking the dirt from his lapel, as though he was done with seeing a movie. "Out of all of your weak little friends, I expect great things from you. I think you're beginning to understand me, and your power. I just hope I'm there on the day when you finally break into the witch you're meant to be."

"Oh, I'm going to break something and it's going to be today." Bonnie raised a threatening hand.

"Ah, ah, ah, Bonnie. I'm trying to give you a compliment. It would be appreciated if you could return it. But that's the problem with kids these days! No respect! But I will teach it to you."

He held each and every individual gaze with a stern glare.

"You are going to let me leave. I will walk out of here with out so much of a scratch because I have returned your power to you." His eyes fell again on Stefan, still clutching Elena. "Stefan, don't forget what I've said and offered. I will always be here for you." He turned to Bonnie, who let out a spark from her hand. "Bonnie, I'll be looking forward to hearing from you. And, Elena—,"

Suddenly Elena Jane Gilbert opened her eyes, gasped and sat up.

Caroline suddenly couldn't feel her knees.

Klaus was gone, a wind murmuring the last bit of his presence.

A voice whispered, "I'll be back."

* * *

><p><em>*AN: holy crapola, this chapter was SOOOO much fun to write! Okay, yes, there were some sad scenes, but hey, look everybody's okay! So yay! _

_I SO wish they had kept Klaus as an actual baddy because this shit is hella fun to write! Sadistic and evil is way better than creepy and obsessive. Also, they NEVER have put their British accents to good use and to see Klaus break through with some Sussex was really fun! _

_And, if you got a vibe of Spike (AKA Wiliam the Bloody) when Klaus was on his rampage, goodie for you! He was the original British big bad and I love him for it! _

_Also, I want to write down the amount of dog jokes I could come up with and just store them somewhere for future reference. "Whoa, Cujo, chill out." "Astro, the Jetsons need you!" "Will you do it for a Scoobie snack?" Oh, boy, the potential . . ._

_So that's it for this week! But next week comes the epic finale! And oh God, my Daroline heart . . . why can't they be canon?_

_(P.S find the Doctor Who reference for cookies!)_


	19. Chapter 19: From Hell and Back

**Chapter 19: From Hell and Back**

_To love, I propose. To love, because that is our saving grace._

* * *

><p>Elena was panting, her eyes wide in shock. Stefan held her as though he didn't know where to touch first.<p>

"Oh my God, Elena—," he muttered.

"Stand back, give her air!" Bonnie ordered, rushing over. She grabbed Elena's wrist and checked her pulse. She held a hand to her friend's forehead, looking for a fever.

Elena gulped in air, suddenly frowning. "Bonnie," she gasped. "What are you doing?"

Bonnie's mouth dropped open, as though surprised she could speak. Finally, tears leaked down her brown eyes.

"Oh, Elena!" She fell forward and enveloped her friend in a massive hug. "I was so scared!"

Caroline felt the tears on her cheeks again. She knocked Stefan aside as she tackled Elena. "We were all so scared! We thought we lost you!"

Elena's startled eyes met her with surprise. "I think you're going to have to fill me in. The last thing I remember is that night at the well."

"Yeah, a bit has happened since then." Damon came up behind Caroline. "But everything's right in the world again. You're alive."

"And Klaus is running with his tail between his legs. I call it a win." Matt waved at her, slowly coming over. "Hey, Elena, how are you feeling?"

"A little shocked." Elena looked at Stefan, frowning. "Klaus was here?"

"Just missed him, actually." Caroline sniffed. "We kicked his ass good. He won't be back for a while."

"But what happened?" She pressed. "Is Jeremy okay? Where is he? Where's Alaric?"

Caroline and Bonnie leaned back, their eyes at the ground.

Elena's eyes widened. "What?"

"Well, when the Salvatore house burned down—,"

"What!" Elena snapped.

"Do you think what he said is true?" Tyler suddenly interjected. His face was a mask, but his eyes revealed all. "Do you think my mother is alive?"

At that, Elena snapped her mouth shut and looked at Stefan, horrified. He stood up and pulled her to her feet. "We've got a while before we get back to Mystic Falls. We'll fill you in on everything there."

Immediately Bonnie and Caroline scooped Elena around the waist in a double hug.

"Just don't spare the details, okay?" Elena asked sternly.

* * *

><p>"And then Bonnie says 'just think of me as the Champion of the People' and blasts him with this thing of electricity! ZAP!" Caroline giggled. Elena was bunched in between her and Bonnie with Damon and Stefan heading the front seat as they drove back to town. Matt and Tyler had gone back to pick up Liz and Jeremy, and would take Matt's car back home. "And he's all 'no! Don't kill me, Warrior Goddess Queen! Aaaaghhh!'"<p>

"He so did not say that!" Bonnie laughed.

"Ok, it was either that, or wet his pants, and I decided in the spur of the moment to go with writhing in pain."

"I like that version much better." Elena grinned. "But so he's gone? For real?"

Stefan and Bonnie shared a look in the rearview mirror. "He said he'd be watching me. And he showed particular interest in Bonnie's power. So I don't think he's gone for good."

"And the undead coming back to eat us all?"

"He said it's all been reversed." Stefan glanced at Elena. "What that actually means—,"

"STEFAN!" Damon barked. His brother jerked the car out of the way of an oncoming van. An angry horn blared as they passed. Damon glared as Stefan pulled the wheel straight. "I know you've taken at least one driving class in the hundred plus years of your tragic existence. Maybe you should drive on the correct side of the road."

Stefan blinked as though this was a novel idea and gently he coaxed the car from the center of the road onto the right lane.

"Sorry," he muttered. "It's just we haven't seen another car in days. I just got used to not having to obey the rules of the road. I thought we were alone."

They passed by an old farmhouse. A man seated on his tractor mowed through the cornfield as a boy and his dog played in the dusty front lawn.

"Maybe we're not so alone after all." Damon murmured to no one in particular.

* * *

><p>They pulled up to the Salvatore house. Matt's car sat in the driveway. No one moved to get out.<p>

"So the last time you saw him, he ran into flames and a horde of Diseased?" Elena asked quietly. "For all we know, he's dead right now."

Caroline felt Damon's eyes on her. "Yes. He saved us to give us a few extra minutes. Alaric's dead."

"But not according to Klaus," Elena said, searching her friends for confirmation.

"If we start taking him at his word, we might as well start voting for politicians." Damon said, an eyebrow jumping. He looked at Stefan who shrugged. In perfect sync, the brothers opened the car doors and got out. The three girls glanced at each other and followed suit.

The boarding house loomed above them. Caroline was sure she would never be able to remove the image of it burning to the ground from her memory.

Stefan paused, his hand hovering above the door handle. Damon nodded as if to give reassurance.

He opened the door.

They were hit with the smell of pancakes. Before they could move much further, Tyler bounced in front of them. He was smiling ear to ear.

"He was right."

Elena's eyes grew wide and she pushed through them and ran into the living room. The rest followed quickly.

Jeremy was propped up on some pillows, his leg in a splint, a plate of pancakes stacked high on his plate. Liz Forbes had a cup of coffee, leaning against the wall, smiling. Matt was enthralling everyone with a story about something.

Carol Lockwood was laughing. Tyler sat down beside her and unconsciously she put an arm around him, as if to say _I'm glad you're here_.

Alaric Saltzman was alive and well, stretched out on the couch next to Jeremy, his soft eyes bright with laughter. His plate was clean.

When they entered, he looked up and smiled his stupid grin, as though their arrival wasn't anything particularly surprising, just a matter of time.

"So I guess it worked. You guys saved the world."

He stood up and went to Elena. He shook his head, grinning. "I'm sorry to say but I had you down for the count on this one. Good to know even a fatal, undead bite can't faze you."

Tears suddenly sprang up in her soft eyes. "I could say the same about you, you lummox. If I ever hear that you do something that stupid— that reckless— again, I'll—,"

He bent down and gave her a massive bear hug. "It's good to see you too, Elena."

"Hey, I'd join in on that hug," Jeremy began, "but seeing as I can't walk—,"

They broke apart and Elena nearly sprinted to hug her baby brother. "And you can't walk because of me! I am such a bad sister!"

"Yah, you can be." Jeremy said, nodding. She pulled away. "But I wouldn't trade you for the world. It's good to have you back, Elena."

"So, world saved," Alaric began, "bad guy gone, what— oof,"

Damon jerked away from the hug so fast it took vamp senses to catch it. Instead, he clapped Alaric on the shoulder for everyone to see.

"Good to see you . . . you're not dead, good. Not dead. Good. Good."

Alaric raised a playful eyebrow at the hand on his shoulder. "Couldn't live without me, could ya?"

Damon smirked. "I just liked knowing you were going to die of liver failure before I did."

As Alaric rolled his eyes and shook his head, Bill Forbes entered the room from the back halls. Caroline immediately tensed. _What was he still doing here? _She hurled a horrible glare at him.

It was met with silence. And then he spoke.

"Thank you." He said. " To all of you. I knew you would stop all of this, but I didn't think you would bother to save me in the process."

"You weren't at the top of the priority list, believe me," Caroline snarled, forgetting her surprise at his appreciation.

"I understand I am not wanted here, so I will go. But I truly believed that good didn't exist within you. Now I am not sure. Thank you again."

* * *

><p>An hour and a half went on in bliss. They sat around the Salvatore dinning table, eating what was left in the bare cabinets. Carol was surprisingly good at salvaging old biscuits, gravy and bacon bits into a fairly decent meal. Now that the danger had passed, Stefan eagerly gave Jeremy some blood, which meant the youngest Gilbert was back in full swing. He laughed with Alaric and Bonnie showed off some mini-fireworks. Liz and Carol were getting along in an enjoyable manner. Matt and Tyler spoke little, wolfing down everything they could get their hands on. Stefan and Elena spoke little too. She sat in his lap and he gently fed her bites of food, an entire conversation existing only between them.<p>

Caroline was also surprisingly quiet. She nudged around the biscuit with a lonely strip of bacon.

"There's some blood downstairs, if you want it." It took her a moment before she realized Damon was speaking to her. He watched her with soft eyes.

She blinked at him, leaning off her elbow. "I'm sorry. What?

"Blood. Food. You look like you could use something." He indicated her barely touched plate.

"I'm not really hungry. I'm just . . ." she faded out, frowning. "I don't really know what's wrong with me. We won and I'm happy about that. It's just . . ."

"What?" He sounded like he was truly interested. She vaguely wondered if they were alone, if he would have reached for her hand.

And for some reason, that pissed her off. "I'm just glad we can get back to normal. I want to stop living in a fantasy world. I mean, apocalyptic wasteland is not the ideal fantasy, but I want to stop lying to myself. About what I want, about who I am. I just don't want to be lied to any more." She could help but glare.

And he knew the glare was meant _for_ him. He opened his mouth to say something but then Ms. Lockwood stood up at the end of the table, her glass held high.

"I would just like to take a moment and give a toast to you fine people."

Tyler covered his face with his hand, blush creeping up his cheeks. "Aw, come on, Mom, not right now—,"

"Without you, I would not be standing right here. Without you, an unspeakable evil would be inhabiting the bodies of our friends, of our family, of ourselves. Without you, the end of the world would have come." Caroline tried to hold her gaze, but felt Damon's pouring into her like hot water. "I propose a toast to friendship, to loyalty, and to love. Because that is what got us through this catastrophe and that is what will continue long after we have all passed through hopefully natural causes." There was a fervent chuckle in the group. "To love, I propose. To love, because that is our saving grace."

Caroline downed her shot of champagne in one gulp, then immediately bolted for the bathroom.

* * *

><p>It was several hours later when the food and drink had run dry and the jokes grew tired and those telling them reached the point of exhaustion. They were joined in the hallway after gathering the supplies they had brought with them.<p>

"Now, can I expect to see you all around tonight?" Ms. Lockwood asked as she donned a coat. She smiled happily, expecting agreement but instead was met with looks of confusion. "The Annual Fundraiser for the Founder's Ball! That's tonight! The world might have momentarily gone to hell but that's nothing some shrimp cocktails and hors d'oeuvres can't solve!"

Tyler, shaking his head, came up behind her, and gently took her by the elbow. "Come on, Mom."

She frowned. "What? What did I say?"

"Thank you, guys." He said, over his shoulder. "Elena, I'm glad you're okay."

Elena smiled. "Thanks, Ty. Good night."

He waved and both Lockwoods left the house.

"I think that's my cue to leave too." Matt stepped forward, his big jacket over his broad shoulders and duffel bag hanging near his knees. "This whole thing has been way to weird for me. I think I'm going to stick to just virtual life or death situations."

He went over to Elena and gave her a hug. They stood as friends who had been through hell and back for each other and would so again and again. "Elena, I don't know what I would have done if you didn't make through this. I would have lost my best friend."

"And I would have haunted you, just to make sure you're doing okay." They pulled apart and he kissed her forehead.

"And I would have been offended if you didn't."

And then he turned and left the house.

Bonnie picked up her book bags off the floor. "I'm heading out too."

Elena pouted "Aww! I thought we could all use a girl's night!"

"Well, we do, but it's not that kind of girl's night I'm talking about. As cheesy as it sounds, I really need to get in touch with Mother Nature. She gave me this power from Klaus' witch and let me keep it and now I need to figure it out. I need to call my dad and make sure he's okay, tell him to come home." She leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Besides I think if I stay still for much longer, I'll explode."

As Bonnie left, Caroline stepped forward and took her mother by the hand.

"We're going to head out to." Damon watched them from the corner of the room. "I—we— need to talk about some stuff and maybe have a 'just us night'. I haven't been the person I should."

Something suddenly triggered in Elena's faint memory. Why was that phrase familiar? Her eyes glanced from Damon, slowly traveling to Caroline, puzzle pieces fitting together. With a final glance to Damon standing in the shadows, Caroline opened the door and left with her mother.

"And we are definitely taking you home, dear sister of mine." Jeremy came up and put an arm around Elena. She smiled at him and put her head on his chest.

"A bath, huh. That sounds wonderful."

As Jeremy moved to gather their bags, Elena reached over and kissed Stefan. "I'll text you later."

With the final closing of the oak door, the Salvatore house was quiet. Damon detached himself from the wall and came to stand next to his brother, who was staring wistfully at the closed door. Damon gazed around the open room in slight disgust.

"Maybe we should downsize. This place is a little creepy when it's all quiet."

They heard footsteps coming from one of the other rooms. They realized at the same moment that Bill Forbes was still lurking in the background.

"Wait, there's one more rat we need to take care of."

Stefan caught the sinister light in his eye as Damon strode towards the noise.

"Damon—,"

"Don't worry, I won't kill him . . . much."

* * *

><p>"What are you still doing here?" Damon leaned against the doorframe, scowling. "Everyone's gone and you should be too."<p>

"I'm looking for my car keys. I think your witch moved them."

Damon's eyes narrowed. "If you had any sense in you, you wouldn't have made that sound like a threat."

"Oh, it's not a threat." Bill said simply, burrowing through drawers. "It's a fact. She probably stole them."

Damon raised a shocked eyebrow. "Your lack of self-preservation is astounding."

"But in the long run, I think a row of murders is more scathing than self-righteousness, don't you agree?" Bill paused and glanced at Damon, whose face fell.

His eyes narrowed. "You really have no idea the girl you're loosing in this, do you?"

Bill frowned. "Caroline? Oh, I know she's a special girl. But she's broken. I can fix her."

"She deserves to be loved by someone much better than you. She deserves a better father than you." Damon barely registered the amount of acid in his voice.

Then Bill Forbes chuckled, searching through the closet now.

"And I'm sure she deserves you, because you're a good vampire."

"I don't deserve anything." Damon scowled. She knew that, and he knew that, but in the darkest places of his heart, he could help but want her. "But neither does Caroline, because— _Bill_— people are not objects to be owned or deserved. Caroline is more of a human than you'll ever hope to be and do you know why?" He strode forward and knocked a shoebox from Bill's hands. "Because she understands the value of choice. Of free will. The worst thing dicks like you can take away from her is her choice to be anything. I never thought I had choice, that life was pressed on me. She showed me that you always have a choice."

Bill gazed at him intently, his head turning as though he was inspecting a bit of dirt on his shoe. And then a horrible grin broke over his face.

"And you chose to love her, didn't you? You're in love with Caroline."

Damon stepped back as though he had been pushed. He blinked, the cogs of his brain working furiously.

Love.

Could he do that again? Could he love Caroline? Did he?

Did he love that brilliant smile, that hair that smelled like sunlight?

Did he love that perfectly smart mouth, quipped with words of comfort or fury?

Did he ache when he couldn't hold onto that soft skin, kiss that pouting mouth, when her fingers were far from his face?

Did he love her strength and resilience and the glimpse of infinite wisdom that came from the most unexpected places?

Did he love all that was Caroline Forbes?

The answer to that question was blatantly obvious.

"Yes, I do." A soft smile broke out over his face as he finally said the words that had been floating around in his subconscious for weeks. "I love your daughter and until now I've been too blind to notice it."

Bill's face was unreadable. "So what are you going to do?"

Damon shrugged, hopelessly caught up in his own thoughts. "The only thing I can do. Tell her I love her and kiss her and hope for the best."

Bill stepped away silently, reached into the bedside table and pulled out the keys from there. Then he turned and went for the exit.

Reality flickered back to Damon.

"Oh, and Bill, you do realize that if I ever see your face again, I will rip out your spine, don't you?"

Bill paused. He sighed. "Be good to her, okay? When you tell her, you'd better mean it."

* * *

><p><em>*AN Protective!Damon is my favorite Damon. Ah, **le sigh**. _

_Maybe in my next fic, someone will punch Bill in the face because he totally deserves it . . . smh . . ._

_And Elena's alive! Yay! Alaric's alive! Ms. Lockwood's alive! Klaus is gone! Time to party! _

_One. More. Chapter. You guys! We're done! Those reviews better be blowing UP my inbox!_


	20. Chapter 20: City of Angels

**Chapter 20: City of Angels**

_Those three words_

* * *

><p>Caroline Forbes lounged on the couch. Her feet— encased in giant fluffy socks— were propped and on her stomach, there balanced a large bowl of popcorn. Singing cheerleaders danced across the screen of the TV and with a sigh, she thought wistfully about Darren Crisis' ridiculous hotness. Her mother had left a little while ago to go chaperone the Fundraiser. She had gotten a call from Ms. Lockwood and after some encouraging from Caroline, she smiled and left, a promise for chocolate ice cream on her return.<p>

They had spent the entire day together. Caroline had told her about Elena being bitten, about Alaric's final words, about what her father had done to her. Liz held her close as she cried, remembering the agony of the sunlight and the weapon as they burned her skin. She cried and cried and soon, Liz started crying too, apologizing for every dance recital and show she missed. And for just an hour, they held each other and cried. They cried about the past, about the present and about the future. They cried for every condolence and for every word unsaid the past seventeen years. They cried until there was no reason for crying but with every tear, they felt better so they kept going.

Until finally, they pulled apart and hugged.

And then with a stroke of pure luck, Caroline convinced her mother, the sheriff, to have a marathon of Glee. So perhaps, it was for her own sake Caroline told her that it was okay if she went to the fundraiser. After everything, Caroline really did just some alone time.

That lasted about an hour before her thoughts started to wander to a certain Damon Salvatore. With a twist in her heart, she pushed his face from her mind and tried to convince herself the only real man left was Darren Criss.

That's when her phone buzzed and she picked it up. It was from Elena.

_We're having TV dinners and watching the Lifetime Network. We've tried normal but now we're subjected to the abnormal and we're embracing it. Stefan suggested we watch the Opra network on their big screen and why miss a chance to watch Opra in stunning high-definition? Come soon!_

She glanced down at her attire. A big shirt and Nike shorts. Frowning slightly, Caroline realized with some annoyance that she was going to have to put on an actual bra. Growling, she twisted her hair into a bun and went off to her room.

* * *

><p>When she opened the door, she found the living room surprisingly empty. Caroline frowned.<p>

"Elena? Bonnie? Stefan?" She entered the house completely, closing the door behind her. She strained her ears to hear something, anything. The house was silent. "Anybody?"

She moved to the living room, still looking for any signs that her friends were here. The big screen TV was turned off and the tables were disparagingly empty of unhealthy snacks. Something flickered outside from the back yard. Worriedly, she opened the door leading outside and followed the light.

Caroline's mouth dropped. Someone had transformed the usual drab backyard into a sparkling wonderland. The white gazebo was strung from the very top with soft glowing lights. Bright roses grew up in an intricate system around the designs on the wall of the gazebo. The twinkling strings rose out in a path from the foot of the gazebo to the house as though she walked on the Milky Way. Candles on tables flickered behind the trail of lights. Soft music played from invisible speakers.

Standing in the very center of the floor of the gazebo, dressed in his elegant black suit, was Damon. His eyes brightened when he saw her.

"Hello, Caroline."

She gaped in amazement.

"Where is everybody? I'm assuming the Lifetime Network isn't on the menu for tonight."

Damon smirked, shrugging. "Elena's phone may or may not have been left unattended for a while. I don't like to use the word 'theft' but let's say Mayor Lockwood was suddenly offered a whole gaggle of volunteers for tonight. They'll be gone all night."

He gestured for her to come forward. Nearly tripping over her slip-on shoes, she came up the gazebo steps. He handed her a glass of wine.

Caroline hesitantly sipped it, but still she gazed in awe at the lights around her.

"What do you think?" he asked quietly.

"She'll love it!"

Damon's soft expression faded as he frowned. Caroline didn't see this. She waltzed over to the rose poking through the gazebo walls. She inhaled softly.

"But don't you need her here for all this? I mean if you're going waltz her off her feet, Elena should probably be here by now. But wow, how could she say no? Who wouldn't fall for something like this? I know I would."

She turned and saw Damon watching her with a very curious expression. "Well, while we wait, would you like to dance?"

The beat picked up. The song, "Sweet Like Cola", came on. Caroline recognized it from her mother's jazz music collection. She put down the wine glass, tossing her hair. He extended a hand and with a grin, she took it and quick as lightening, he spun her close. She laughed.

"Come on, Miss. Mystic Falls, show me what you got." He said in her ear.

"Can you tango?" She asked with a devilish wink of her eye.

"Babe, I invented the tango."

"Let's see it then."

He spun her out and they danced like a well-oiled machine. Just at the right moments, he picked her up and drew her over his head. She laughed at his boldness. She wiggled her hips in a sexy Spanish flair and he grinned. They spun, faster and faster, their bodies coming closer and closer with every turn.

And then song lulled, and Caroline found her lips inches from his. They were panting, both trying their very hardest to out dance the other. His eyes flew frantically over her face, breathing her in as if trying to memorize every detail.

Something hot rose up inside her and without hesitating, Caroline kissed him. She wound her arms up around his neck and his hands pulled her closer. With every touch, the kiss deepened, Caroline's heart thrashing wildly. His hand slipped down the back of her shorts.

She nearly fell into it, but her light-headedness managed to help. She stumbled backward, breaking the connection.

Her lips felt swollen.

"No, no, this is for Elena—,"

Damon came at her again with a hunger so ravishing, she was powerless but to let him grab her and push her into the gazebo wall. A hand pulled her hair down from its bun and it fell around her shoulders like a blanket. A soft cry left her lips as he kissed down her jaw, down her neck, cherishing the sight and taste of her bosom. She yanked his carefully tucked shirt from his pants, the feel of the metal belt-buckle cold in her hands. Expert hands traveled up the thighs that straddled him.

She kissed him out of relief, out of happiness, out of surprise that despite all the odds, both of them had somehow survived. She smiled and his lips slowed. Slowly, she dragged a hand back over his shoulder, his hair tickling her elbow and her hand gently cupped his face. His breathing was ragged.

"What?" He panted.

"We can't keep doing this." Their foreheads rested against each other, eyes staring in want.

He took the hand on his face and gently kissed her chin, her cheek and nose.

"I have a solution." He said quietly. "Be with me."

Caroline pulled back completely, her brow furrowed. "What?"

Damon looked down, at her small hand in his. He spoke to their hands, as if they would understand.

"When I thought I was going to die, I thought of only one person. Not Stefan, not Katherine and not Elena. Can you guess who it was?" He looked at her and the light from the candles made his eyes twinkle. She just stared at him, shocked. He chuckled. "Maybe you can't, because you still haven't figured out that this was for you."

Caroline suddenly felt light-headed. She floundered for words. "What? The lights, the music, the candles— that's for me? Why?"

Damon laughed again. He stroked a strand of hair from her face.

"You tricked a one-thousand year old vampire into falling into your trap but you still can't see that I love you."

Those three words. They couldn't have possibly been meant for her, _just for her_. She jerked her head, shocked, and scared. She tried to climb down, but he took both her hands and held them to his chest. His voice was as soft as velvet, his eyes full of meaning. He leaned in to make sure she caught every single word.

"I love you, Caroline. I love you and I'll show you that I mean it, even if it takes the end of the world."

Caroline's small mouth dropped. Her vision blurred and she had to look away. She was about to wipe away the single tear that fell, but his thumb gently brushed it aside.

"But why? Why now?" her voice wavered. _Was this really happening?_

"You make me feel human. I thought I could find my humanity with Elena. But with her, I always had to be the bigger bad ass. I thought I had to win against Stefan to be happy, to deserve to be loved." He gazed at her sadly, softly stroking her skin. "Now I've realized it has nothing to do with him. It really had nothing to do with me. I just had to be patient, but I've never been good with patience." He kissed their clasped hands. "It was about you, Caroline, it always has been."

He leaned in, a hand moving to cradle the back of her head.

Caroline felt his warm breath brushing her lips so gently, and then he stopped. He was going to let her make the first move. It was her decision to kiss him.

She wasn't being Compelled. She wasn't going to kiss him out of pity or a rash flutter of the heart. She wasn't going to kiss him out of anger or pain.

Caroline opened her mouth gently and closed her eyes. His soft hand guided her towards him. When their lips met, it was tender and quiet. He tasted sweet and warm like melted chocolate. Her arms slipped around his neck. She kissed him over, and over, and over.

She kissed him because she loved him.

And when she did, it felt like the first time.

* * *

><p>"So, like I said, no one will be back for a very long time." Damon led her by the hand back into the house. He shut the door behind him, before running his nose along the inside of her neck. "We've got this place all to ourselves."<p>

"Down, boy." Caroline smirked. Chuckling, he allowed her to pull him along, towards the front of the house.

"I want to go out." Caroline said firmly. "My mom said there would be fireworks later tonight, and I want to see them."

"Oh, God, you're not going to be one of these super-active girlfriends, are you? We're not going to go rock climbing and underwater basket weaving on the weekends, right?"

Caroline beat down the flutter in her heart when he said _girlfriend_. She snorted. "Not unless you want to fight the Slumbering Beast of Hell to get her out of bed."

He swirled in front of her, a devilish glint in his eyes. "Keeping you in bed isn't going to be a problem, believe me."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Come on, I want to go see everyone!"

"You just want to show me off as your arm candy. It's okay. I don't blame you."

She started digging in his jacket pocket for his car keys.

"Ok, so show up to this little get-together, say hi, and then ravishing."

"No! Go to the get-together, play some games, watch the fireworks, maybe eat some popcorn, and then _maybe_— ravishing."

Damon pouted. "Get-together, fireworks, then ravishing."

"I'm hungry!" She pouted back.

"I'll let you lick chocolate off my abs."

Caroline froze. Damon flashed her a sneak-peak, grinning impishly. At that, Caroline threw her head back and laughed harder than she had in months.

"That's not usually the reaction I get, but okay . . ."

Still howling with laughter, Caroline took him by the hand and led him up stairs. "You are so changing!"

"What?" Damon frowned, miffed. "I worked hard on this!"

Caroline shook her head, the last of the giggles dying out. "And I didn't. I can't let you go to a party looking better than me."

Damon smirked and took her by the waist. "I know just the thing."

* * *

><p>Klaus was right. The people of Mystic Falls had no memory of the death that consumed their fair city. Children played and laughed. Lights twinkled and couples walked through the streets. Families ate on picnic tables and smoke rose high from BBQ pits. The air smelled of hot dogs and the season of fall.<p>

As they walked, Caroline noticed people were staring at them. She'd like to think it was because they made such a stunning couple, but it was probably because of Damon's attire.

"Why didn't you just wear a sign that said 'open for business'?" Caroline said to him, grinning. She popped an almond from the bag he had bought her into her mouth.

"Because that's tacky. Besides, if they had seen me when punk was in its hay-day, I would have been treated as a god." He winked at a particularly offended old lady as they passed.

"I still think someone could see your bare ass if you bent over in the wrong way."

"They probably could. But if it was anyone but you who saw it, I'd claw their eyes out." He kissed her ear through her hair.

Caroline glanced down to his ridiculously tattered jeans "That's sweet . . . I think." The fabric seemed to be held together by sheer will alone. "You look like an 80s Chip and Dale dancer."

"How do you know I wasn't?" He snuck a hand into the bag of almonds and stole one when he kissed her on the cheek.

They left the street, walking deeper into the field of tents and carnival games. The air smelled like melted popcorn now. A giant Ferris wheel rose above them, gleaming in the night.

"Caroline!"

Immediately, she felt his arm slide from her waist. She glanced at him and he grinned at her as if to say, _wait for the right moment to tell them_.

Bonnie and Jeremy came walking up, grinning. Bonnie held a giant bunny in her hands.

"We didn't use our special abilities to win that," Caroline asked, nodding to the rabbit, "did we?"

Bonnie flushed. "No! Jeremy helped me get it! We won it fair and square!"

Their close proximity didn't go unnoticed. Caroline only smiled.

"Oh my God, Damon, are you okay?" Stefan's seemingly alarmed voice was filled with sarcasm. He, Elena and Alaric joined their friends at the foot of the Ferris wheel.

Damon's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"You were obviously attacked by knife-wielding midgets! You're lucky to be alive!"

Damon made a face. "I haven't done laundry in a while, okay?"

Stefan just rolled his eyes. Caroline had a feeling he already knew. Alaric finished the corndog he had been snacking on. He tossed the stick into the trash.

"I don't mean to be the bringer of bad news, but you do realize nothing's really changed, right? This whole exercise was just so Klaus could show us that he will always be stronger, faster, smarter and could kill us at any second. He's obviously planning something and he knows there's nothing we can do to stop him."

Elena shrugged, glancing around at the fair. They watched the mayor walk around, smiling and waving to the citizens. "Obviously, nobody told Ms. Lockwood. The world keeps spinning for her."

Caroline frowned. "And for the rest of us."

They looked back to her.

"One day, he's going to realize that his biggest mistake was letting us survive. Because we will figure him out. We'll fight off that apocalypse, and the next one, and the one after that. And we'll do it, together."

Carefully and with confidence, she slipped her fingers in between Damon's, smiling softly. As though he had done this a thousand times, he slid his hand around her waist, pulling her tight, and gently kissed her forehead.

Their display of affection was met with faces of shock. Except for Stefan. He knew; he acted shocked just for their sake.

"You know I was kidding when I looked into the future and saw you two together, right?" Bonnie asked. Jeremy's mouth fell open.

"Maybe you don't know your own strength, Bonnie Bennett." Damon grinned.

Bonnie blanched. "Well, in that case, that dream about Conan— I think I need a drink."

Alaric winked. He smiled at Caroline before following Bonnie. "Since my drinking buddy has been hoodwinked into love, I'll be coming with you."

Jeremy rolled his eyes before hurrying after Bonnie. As he left, he muttered something that sounded oddly like, "olden nick". Elena was still in shock.

"I'm beyond speechless but I feel obligated to say, if you break her heart, I'll break your face." Elena shrugged at Damon. For the first time since their meeting, Damon looked at her and felt his heart was finally free from her. "I'm happy for you guys. I really am."

"Don't screw this up, Damon." Stefan said in his best threatening tone. "Caroline's worth more than—,"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your shorts on, Captain Cardboard."

"We really need to have a girls night now." Elena said, eying Caroline. "Are you sure you don't have a concussion or anything?"

"No, I don't." She rolled herself into his arms. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

She felt him kiss her cheek as Stefan and Elena gave them their space and walked off back into the carnival.

His lips found her ear.

"You said you wanted to see the fireworks, right?"

She nodded.

"Then close your eyes."

She obeyed and felt the air whoosh around her as her feet left the ground. With his strong arm around her, she heard nothing but the hissing of air for a few minutes before she was still again.

She heard the voice of the townspeople begin to count down to the start of the bedazzling show. But somehow, they were muffled, as if they were very far away.

"I love you, Caroline."

3 . . . 2 . . . 1

She opened her eyes.

And fireworks lit the sky up like exploding, vibrant pearls. He had taken her to a secluded cliff that overlooked the entire city, the network of streetlights and cars a golden spider web flattened on the crisp black ground. The fireworks rose and fell like the dance of glittering streamers fluttering through wind and Caroline couldn't remember when she had been happier.

"I love you too." She said.

He put his arms around her and they watched each stream, each crackle and each fall of fire. The ribbons dusted the sky as they fell, back towards the ground, back towards the city. It was the city of fire, of passion, of struggle and of pain. But mostly, it was home.

For all who knew, it was the city of angels.

* * *

><p><em>*AN Agh! We're done! Fic successful! I'm dying to know what you guys think of it!_

_Thank you so much for the reviews, the favs and the encouragement! This would have never have happened without your support! Thank you!_

_Also, I was thinking of doing a future-set fic. Set in about 100 years after they manage to kill Klaus. Caroline's changed since then, and so has Damon. But nothing prepares her for the knock on the door from a twelve-year-old girl, claiming to be Damon's daughter._

_So that's the shortest summary I can think of without giving too much away. Message me and I'll give you more deets or message me and tell me nobody in the history of the world would read it. Your choice._

_Thanks again for the support. See you all next time!_


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